Textiles
Bin: Textile binWearable gets a second life, the rest becomes fibre or cleaning cloth.
Even worn-out textile is a raw material. Dry and clean is the only condition — wet or greasy textile ruins the whole batch. Branded workwear goes via the secure route so it cannot reappear in circulation.
This belongs in it
- Clothing, shoes (tied in pairs)
- Towels, sheets and curtains
- Work and sportswear
- Bags and belts
- Clean cleaning cloths
This does not belong in it
- Wet, mouldy or greasy textile
- Mattresses and carpet
- Textile with paint or chemicals
- Branded workwear — use the security route
What happens to it?
- 1. Dry into the textile bin
Put textile in a closed bag inside the textile bin so it stays dry.
- 2. Sorted by quality
At the sorter it is graded by hand: re-wearable, cleaning cloth or fibre recycling.
- 3. Reuse
Re-wearable clothing goes to the second-hand market — reuse saves the most water and CO₂.
- 4. Fibre recycling
The rest is shredded into cleaning cloths, insulation material or new yarn.
Where is it processed?
Sorted at a specialist textile sorter; branded workwear is destroyed at De Graaf Security first.
This is what it becomes
Good to know
Rules and legislation
Since 1 July 2023, extended producer responsibility (EPR) applies to textiles in the Netherlands: producers are responsible for collection, reuse and recycling. The Circular Materials Plan additionally requires organisations to keep textiles separate from 1 m³ when they arise incidentally.
Sources
The figures and rules on this page were checked against the following sources.
- Uitgebreide producentenverantwoordelijkheid textielInspectie Leefomgeving en Transport
- Regels voor hergebruik en recycling van textielRijksoverheid
- Gescheiden houden van bedrijfsafval en gevaarlijk afvalRijkswaterstaat — Circulair Materialenplan
Checked on 18 August 2026