The results of a $1.28 million textile circularity project, funded by the Walmart Foundation, were at long last revealed earlier this month at the world’s first Goodwill Industries International Sustainability Summit.
The two-year pilot was conducted by Goodwill Industries International as part of its ongoing efforts to advance circularity by developing the skills, systems, and infrastructure to aggregate, sort, and prepare textiles for reuse and recycling across its network.
The results of the research, exploring the capabilities to transform unsellable textile donations into feedstock for textile recycling, were finally revealed to an audience of private and non-profit industry leaders, recyclers, and researchers in attendance of Goodwill’s dedicated, two-day sustainability conference earlier this month.
It was at the conference that Goodwill announced its plans to conduct a traceability study. This study will also be funded by the Walmart Foundation, this time to the tune of £2 million and will act to support a multi-stakeholder initiative to follow the journey of secondhand textiles. It’s hoped that results from this will then be used to inform reuse and recycling strategies and help shape industry standards for traceability and product lifecycle stewardship within the US market.
The two studies align with the Goodwill network’s goals of increasing waste diversion, improving accountability and transparency, maximizing the value of donations, and making a positive impact on communities around the world.
“Goodwill is leading the charge to solve a societal problem. No other nonprofit collector has explored solutions at this scale before,” said Karla Magruder, president and founder of the nonprofit Accelerating Circularity. “The size and scale of the Goodwill network place it in a unique position to help pioneer solutions to the overproduction of textiles.”
The first grant, the textile circularity research project, was launched in the summer of 2022 in partnership with Accelerating Circularity. In this study, the fibre composition of items at the end of their reusable lifespan was analysed for their suitability as high-value recycling feedstock. Approximately 60% of the material in the study was found to be suitable for existing recycling technologies, which included cotton, polyester, and cotton/poly blends.
The pilot involved the creation of four regional textile hubs in Canada, Michigan, the Northeast and the Southeast, representing 25 local Goodwill organizations. The hubs sorted and graded post-retail textiles to identify reusable materials that could be resold and nonreusable textiles that would be used to create feedstock that meets recyclers’ specifications.
As part of the grant, each of the four regional hubs developed business plans and advanced sortation models that can be replicated across the Goodwill network and adopted by other social enterprises for the advancement of textile circularity.
“We are working with a variety of partners to determine how Goodwill can best lead in the textile-to-textile recycling market and develop a number of pathways for goods to minimize waste and maximize value through reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling,” said Steve Preston, Goodwill Industries International president and CEO.
“Eventually, Goodwill hopes to become a preferred partner of brands, retailers, technology companies, equipment providers, and government and non-governmental organisations.”
Revenue from the sale of donated goods supports job training, job placement and other essential services for community members who face obstacles to employment. The value of every item donated to Goodwill stays in local communities.
The organisation is working on initiatives at the local, regional and international levels to develop additional revenue sources to fund the nonprofit’s vital workforce programs and services.
“Goodwill is focused on developing solutions for textiles that are scalable, circular and traceable. We are committed to advancing textile circularity by ensuring that we preserve the highest value of every item entrusted to us for our planet, our communities and our people,” said Brittany Dickinson, Goodwill Industries International director of sustainability.
The Goodwill network plays a critical role in powering the domestic circular economy. The organisation currently operates over 3,300 stores across the U.S. and Canada, with multiple retail channels to keep products in use and out of landfills. In 2023, Goodwill recovered the value of over 4.3 billion pounds of donated products, which supported the development of skills training, job placement, career advancement opportunities, and other community-based services for more than 1.7 million people.
