Textile waste like Cotton is barely recycled in China, where fast fashion reigns

Only about 20% of China’s textiles are recycled, according to the Chinese government — and almost all of that is cotton.

At a factory in Zhejiang province on China’s eastern coast, two mounds of discarded cotton clothing and bed linens, loosely separated into dark and light colors, pile up on a workroom floor. Jacket sleeves, collars and brand labels protrude from the stacks as workers feed the garments into shredding machines.