The textile recycling rate has barely moved since 1990. The tonnage has tripled

The EPA's headline for 2018: generation of textiles was 17 million tons, 5.8% of total municipal solid waste, and the recycling rate for all textiles was 14.7%, with 2.5 million tons recycled.

Within that, clothing and footwear recycled at 13% and sheets and pillowcases at 15.8%. Combustion with energy recovery took 3.2 million tons. Landfills received 11.3 million tons — 7.7% of everything landfilled.

The same page carries the full series. Generated, in thousands of US tons: 1,760 in 1960; 5,810 in 1990; 9,480 in 2000; 13,220 in 2010; 17,030 in 2018. Landfilled over the same years: 1,710; 4,270; 6,280; 8,900; 11,300.

Run the division yourself, because the page gives the tonnes and not the ratios: the recycling rate was 11.4% in 1990, 13.9% in 2000, 15.5% in 2010 and 14.7% in 2018. Between 2010 and 2018 the rate went down while recycled tonnage went up. Both statements are true from the same table.

A recycling rate is a fraction, and a fraction improves in two very different ways: recover more, or generate less. They are not interchangeable, and a rate does not tell you which one happened.

Landfilled textiles in 1990: 4.27 million tons. In 2018: 11.3 million tons. The rate improved by about three points over the same period.

Report absolute tonnes alongside any percentage, and say which direction each moved. Say which year: EPA's most recent data on that page is 2018, on a page last updated 19 March 2026 — those are different dates and the second is not evidence about the first.

Name the basis. EPA notes that significant amounts of textiles enter the reuse market and that reused textiles are not included in the generation estimate, so a rate from a source that counts reuse is not comparable to this one.

And check the underlying source: these estimates rest on trade data, not waste-facility measurement.