At a recent textile recycling summit in San Diego, an innovation competition about the future of the textile industry showed attendees many cutting-edge solutions, but it also sparked a deep reflection: can end-of-pipe treatment alone truly solve the fashion industry's problem of overproduction and overconsumption?

During the summit, several startups, including Alternew, Fibarcode, IntheLoopAi, and the eventual winner Intrinsic Advanced Materials, showcased innovative technologies such as repair platforms, high-speed sorting technology, and fiber-to-fiber recycling systems. However, Lisa Jepson (CEO of Garson & Shaw), one of the judges, pointed out that although these solutions are impressive, they cannot obscure a core fact—we are trying to use innovation to solve a fundamental problem: upstream overproduction and overconsumption.

According to 2024 data from Garson & Shaw, U.S. consumers discard 10.4 billion wearable garments each year, equivalent to about 4,000 truckloads per week. In states such as California, the volume of textiles sent to landfills far exceeds the processing capacity of repair and recycling programs. Lisa believes that the truly important circular infrastructure does not depend on future technology, but on existing reuse systems that can keep clothing in circulation and be economically viable.

Data shows that the U.S. secondhand clothing industry supports about 342,000 jobs, while domestic apparel manufacturing employs fewer than 90,000. In Guatemala, secondhand clothing prices are more than 4 times cheaper than newly imported clothing. In 2023, the country imported 131 million kilograms of secondhand clothing, of which 98.6% came from the United States. In El Salvador, secondhand clothing already accounts for nearly one-third of total clothing imports, with the vast majority priced below $15 and a median price of $3.

Regarding concerns about waste generated by the secondhand clothing trade, Lisa emphasized that evidence, not speculation, should be the basis. Multiple studies show that the proportion of waste in secondhand clothing imports is usually below 5%, but a recent report from Guatemala showed that the proportion of unsorted bales ranged from 9.2% to 11.8%, while after sorting it dropped to about 5%. She also pointed out that mandating sorting before export could deprive receiving countries of jobs and economic value.

Lisa concluded that to build a credible circular economy at scale, brands and policymakers should prioritize reducing waste, extending garment life, designing longer-lasting products, and building infrastructure that supports global reuse. She called for true textile circularity to begin at the source—reducing production, making better products, and then extending garment life through reuse systems already operating at scale. Innovation is important, but without confronting overproduction and overconsumption, it will never be enough to solve the problem.

Source: Why We Can’t Innovate Our Way Out of Fashion Overproduction · Originally published on 2026-08-24