In 2022, China's waste textile recycling volume was 4.15 million tons, down 12.6% year-on-year; the recycling value was 1.66 billion yuan, down 36.4% year-on-year. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments issued the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Promotion of Waste Textile Recycling," proposing that by 2025 the waste textile recycling rate reach 25% and the output of regenerated fibers reach 2 million tons. Based on this, Huajing Industry Research Institute compiled the "2023-2029 China Waste Textile Recycling Industry Market Development Status and Investment Planning Recommendations Report," systematically reviewing the industry's market capacity, industrial chain, competitive landscape, and business models.

Key Points

  • In 2022, China's waste textile recycling volume was 4.15 million tons, down 12.6% year-on-year; the recycling value was 1.66 billion yuan, down 36.4% year-on-year
  • Policy targets: by 2025, the recycling rate should reach 25%, and regenerated fiber output should reach 2 million tons
  • Sanlian Hongpu's 2022 operating revenue was 1.06 billion yuan, up 26.2% year-on-year, and it has already laid out a nylon chemical regeneration process route

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of textiles and apparel, and the recycling and utilization of waste textiles is regarded as an important way to supplement raw material supply for the textile industry and promote green, low-carbon, circular development. If fully reused, it can not only reduce textile raw material consumption and ease pressure on oil and arable land, but also reduce harmful gas emissions from incineration and pollution from landfill land occupation. The industry generally divides recycling and regeneration methods into five categories: zero-level recycling, primary recycling, physical recycling, chemical recycling, and energy recovery.

From the perspective of industry participants, there are more than about 90,000 renewable resource recycling enterprises nationwide, mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, with about 13 million employees. Old clothing recycling channels have covered major and medium-sized cities across the country, including recycling bins, online recycling, door-to-door recycling, and collection through sales outlets. While the industry scale continues to expand, both recycling volume and recycling value declined in 2022.

On the technology and equipment side, Beijing Sanlian Hongpu New Synthetic Fiber Technology Service Co., Ltd., established in 1999, focuses on production technology and equipment for synthetic fibers and their raw materials. It is a polyamide 6/66 process solution provider and has made breakthroughs in process routes such as nylon 6/66 spinning-SSP, coal-to-chemical fiber raw materials, and waste textile recycling (nylon chemical regeneration). In 2022, the company's operating revenue was 1.06 billion yuan, up 26.2% from the previous year.

For the old clothing trade and recycling industry, China's waste textile recycling is currently in a stage where clear policy goals coexist with short-term market pressure: on the one hand, quantitative indicators such as the recycling rate and regenerated fiber output will promote the construction of the recycling system; on the other hand, recycling volume and value have fallen simultaneously, and enterprises are mainly small and medium-sized, indicating that raw material organization and profitability remain core issues that the industry needs to solve.

Source: "2023 In-Depth Research Report on China's Waste Textile Recycling Industry" - Published by Huajing Industry Research Institute · Originally published on 2023-10-20