Textile recycling originated in the Yorkshire Dales about 200 years ago, and the ‘rag & bone men’ of days past are now known as ‘textile recycling businesses’. The main activities of these businesses is to collect clothing, handbags, shoes, bedding, and curtains for re-use; these are then often sold abroad as second hand clothing, but also to provide raw materials to the ‘wiping’ and ‘flocking’ industries, and for reclamation of fibre to make new garments.

99% of all clothing collected by Ecotex Limited is processed for recycling and re-use.

All collected used textiles are hand sorted and graded to specific customer requirements by highly skilled workers who are able to recognise the large variety of fibre types. Once graded the clothes are then weighed and press packed into bales using the most up-to-date weighing and pressing equipment.

• The finished bales are then sent to various destinations as described below:
• Re-used as second-hand clothing and wearable shoes, exported to developing countries
• Reclaimed and shredded for recycling to filling materials
• Recycled to produce new products in the reclamation industry
• Recycled to become wiping cloths for industry
• Only a small percentage of raw materials are rejected as waste