A planetary atlas of material flowsOpening this view…
Start with an everyday object or material.
Jump directly to a material, regional account or named facility.
From natural fibres and chemical feedstocks to fabrics and garments. Explore the production, trade, reuse and recovery systems behind what we wear.
Textile supply chains produce fibres with different properties. Blends complicate material separation.
Upstream residues depend on the fibre and process.
Fabric is made into garments and other products. Keeping an item useful delays the need for a replacement.
Cutting waste and worn-out products enter different streams.
Collected items are assessed for reuse and other options. Quality and condition affect which markets can use them.
Collection alone does not establish reuse or recycling.
The retained trade category records worn clothing. It does not split successful reuse from onward disposal in the destination.
Receiving-country treatment remains a separate evidence question.
An item may continue in use or reach treatment and disposal. Shipment-level evidence is needed to identify the actual route.
No final-fate percentage is inferred from customs weight.
Explore the local operations and regional systems that collect, transform and recover this material.
Checking available records…
That requires the collector’s sorting and buyer records. The worn-clothing trade can identify reported country connections, but not the path of a particular donation.