The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly released the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Promotion of Waste Textile Recycling" on April 11, 2022, specifying that by 2025 the recycling rate of waste textiles should reach 25% and recycled fiber output should reach 2 million tons, and by 2030 the recycling rate should further increase to 30% and recycled fiber output should reach 3 million tons.

Key Points

  • The three departments jointly issued the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Promotion of Waste Textile Recycling," released on April 11, 2022
  • 2025 targets: recycling rate of 25%, recycled fiber output of 2 million tons; 2030 targets: recycling rate of 30%, recycled fiber output of 3 million tons
  • The "Implementation Opinions" focus on three stages—production, recycling, and comprehensive utilization—propose 9 specific measures, and incorporate key technologies into national key R&D programs

China is the world's largest textile producer, accounting for more than half of global textile fiber processing volume. As per capita fiber consumption continues to grow, the amount of waste textiles generated has been rising year by year. A relevant official from the National Development and Reform Commission pointed out that waste textile recycling can both supplement raw material supply for the textile industry and ease pressure on resources and the environment. It is an important part of building a green, low-carbon, circular development economic system and has significant meaning for conserving resources and reducing pollution and carbon emissions.

However, the industry still faces multiple shortcomings: the recycling system is not yet sound, key technologies are relatively weak, industry standards need improvement, and comprehensive utilization efficiency also needs to be raised.

In response to these problems, the "Implementation Opinions" start from the three stages of production, recycling, and comprehensive utilization and specify 9 concrete measures. On the production side, the document proposes strengthening the textile industry's recycling of waste textiles and promoting the entry of recycled fiber products into application fields such as building materials, automotive interiors and exteriors, agriculture, and environmental governance, thereby broadening downstream consumption channels.

In terms of scientific and technological innovation, the "Implementation Opinions" clearly incorporate key technologies for waste textile recycling into national key R&D programs, relying on leading enterprises to focus on breakthroughs in core technologies and equipment such as fiber identification, efficient sorting, blended material separation, and regeneration and utilization.

From an industry perspective, the document sets a clear quantitative roadmap for the waste textile recycling, sorting, and regeneration industry chain, and the direction for expanding downstream application scenarios for recycled fibers has also been defined, allowing relevant enterprises to plan capacity and technology R&D accordingly.

Source: Three Departments Issue Document: Waste Textile Recycling Rate to Reach 25% by 2025 · Originally published on 2022-04-12