WHERE IT COMES FROM
Mostly drinks bottles
Textile Exchange reports that most recycled polyester still comes from plastic bottles rather than from textile waste.
See the numbers
WHAT THE LABEL SHOULD TELL YOU
Recycled kit,
read closely.
Plenty of sports kit now says it is made from recycled plastic.
Usually that means polyester spun from old drinks bottles, not from old clothes. UK consumer guidance says a recycled claim should be specific: which material, how much of it, and what the rest of the garment is made of.
HOW MUCH? recycled, of what
Check a label- Look for a percentage
- Check the fibre label
- Know what a logo covers
- Specific beats green-sounding
THE SHORT ANSWER
Recycled usually means
bottles, not old kit.
Recycled polyester is real and growing slowly.
The useful part of the claim is the detail.
THE LABEL
Ask: how much?
In its 2024 undertakings with fashion retailers, the CMA required the percentage of recycled fibres to be clearly displayed.
Check a claim
LOGOS
Know what is certified
Recycled-content standards use third-party audits and chain of custody to trace the material from source to finished product.
How to read it
READING A RECYCLED CLAIM
Four things
to look for.
You do not need to be an expert. UK guidance points to the same few details every time.
Find the fibre label
UK rules say a textile label must show the fibre content, and each part separately if parts differ. It tells you what the whole garment is made of.
Look for a percentage
A specific share of recycled fibre tells you far more than 'made with recycled materials'. The CMA asked retailers to make that figure easy to see.
Ask: whole garment or part?
The Green Claims Code says it must be clear whether a claim covers the whole product or only part of it, such as one panel or the packaging.
Check what a logo covers
A standard's logo may certify a product's content or a company's wider practices. The CMA says statements about schemes must make that clear.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Polyester leads,
old clothes rarely return.
One figure on how much fibre is polyester,
one on how little comes from recycled textiles.
59%
Polyester's share of world fibre production in 2024
About 78 million tonnes out of a record 132 million tonnes of fibre, with all synthetics together at 69%.
POLYESTER · TEXTILE EXCHANGE 2025
under 1%
Share of global fibre made from recycled textiles
Recycled fibres of all kinds held a 7.6% share in 2024, but less than 1% came from recycling pre- and post-consumer textiles.
TEXTILE-TO-TEXTILE · TEXTILE EXCHANGE 2025
Source: Textile Exchange Materials Market Report 2025, as summarised by the EU Textiles Ecosystem Platform. The European Commission puts clothing recycled into new clothing at 1%.
A QUICK LABEL CHECK
What does the
claim actually say?
Pick the kind of wording you see on a swing tag or product page. The bar shows how much the claim tells you, judged against UK consumer guidance on green claims.
Based on the CMA Green Claims Code and the CMA's 2024 fashion undertakings. General information about what claims should include, not legal advice.
BOTTLE TO FIBRE
A second life,
not a closed loop.
Turning bottles into polyester gives that plastic another use. But the fibre in a pair of leggings rarely goes on to become new clothing: the European Commission puts the share of clothing material recycled into new clothing at just 1%.
The European Commission's 2030 vision is for textiles that are durable, repairable, recyclable and largely made of recycled fibres. Until textile-to-textile recycling grows, keeping kit in use for longer is the part every owner controls.
Questions
Questions people ask
Is recycled polyester made from old clothes?
Mostly not. Textile Exchange reports that most recycled polyester still comes from plastic bottles, and that less than 1% of global fibre in 2024 came from recycling pre- and post-consumer textiles.
What should a recycled claim on sportswear tell me?
UK consumer guidance points to specifics: which material is recycled, what percentage of the fibre it makes up, and whether the claim covers the whole garment. The fibre label shows the full composition.
Is 'eco' on a label a problem?
Not automatically, but the CMA says broad terms like 'eco', 'green' or 'sustainable' without explanation are likely to suggest a product has no harmful impact, which a business would need to prove.
What do recycled-content logos mean?
Textile Exchange's Recycled Claim Standard and Global Recycled Standard certify recycled material and its chain of custody through third-party audits. The GRS sets a 50% minimum recycled content and adds social, environmental and chemical rules.
Does a 'recycled' search filter mean the whole item is recycled?
Under the 2024 undertakings, the CMA said a 'recycled' filter should only show items made from predominantly recycled materials. Other shops may differ, so the product's own fibre label is the surer guide.
Sources
- CMA: Making environmental claims on goods and services (Green Claims Code)
- CMA case page: Fashion greenwashing investigation and undertakings (2024)
- GOV.UK: Textile labelling
- EU Textiles Ecosystem Platform: Materials Market Report 2025 summary
- European Commission: EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles
- Textile Exchange: Recycled Claim Standard and Global Recycled Standard
Updated