Textile circularity is expanding fast, but the system beneath it is under strain. This three-part series examines what happens beyond collection — from the material complexity of textile waste to the limits of sorting, markets, and policy design — revealing why recovery systems are struggling to keep pace with what they now gather.

Textile recovery in the United States rests on a system rarely acknowledged in full: one sustained by global reuse markets, reshaped by emerging EPR laws, and constrained by the material realities of the garments themselves. This three-part series examines where circularity is working, where it is under strain, and what is limiting its scale.

California has become the first US state to hold fashion producers legally responsible for discarded clothing—a shift with consequences that reach well beyond its borders. This three-part series examines the legislation, the infrastructure challenge it exposes, and the rulemaking decisions that will determine whether the law delivers. It draws on original reporting and conversations with those closest to implementation.