Untangling textile waste flows: A detailed product and material flow analysis of Dutch clothing waste

This study presents a detailed and comprehensive material flow analysis (MFA) of Dutch clothing, tracing garments from purchase to end-of-life to assess circularity and identify improvement opportunities. If all Dutch textile waste were sorted prioritizing mechanical fibre-to-fibre recycling, the overall textile reuse and recycling rate could reach 40% (22±9% reuse, 5 ± 2% closed-loop recycling and 13±5% open-loop recycling). This study reveals multiple opportunities to improve the sustainability and circularity of the Dutch clothing system at both system and garment-type levels. These include minimizing wardrobe sizes, extending garment lifespans, promoting reuse within Europe, minimizing material losses, and increasing closed-loop recycling. The latter remains challenging with current garment compositions, as this study finds that 61% of discarded textiles consist of blended materials, reflecting a predominance of heterogeneous, blend-rich garments. Finally, the study highlights that circularity metrics should extend beyond reuse and recycling rates to include retention time and material losses.