With the latest numbers from the Environmental Protection Agency indicating that textile waste accounts for nearly 5% of all landfill space in the United States, one wholesale fabric company is teaming up with other fabric and textile companies to streamline textile recycling operations and expand worldwide exports of the recycled material.

As a leading wholesale fabric retailer, Phoenix of Anderson not only partners with other textile companies in the fabric wholesale trading department, it also assists other companies with setting up their own successful and cost-effective programs. This is not only good for business; it’s good for the environment.

The Council for Textile Recycling estimates that the US generates an average of 25 billion pounds of textiles each year, but only 15% is donated each year. The increase in textile production, and subsequent waste, raises red flags for people who are concerned about the environment.

Through their recycling programs, scraps that would normally be left to accumulate in a landfill are instead sorted and exported to diverse locations around the world. If not repurposed, the scraps, often made of synthetic fibers that don’t decompose in landfills, or other materials that release methane during the decomposition process, can contribute to global warming.   

The company, based in South Carolina works internationally with different markets in each of its recycling categories. Fabric recycling material sources include post-consumer material waste, including clothes and upholstery and pre-consumer material waste from textile and fabric manufacturers.

The exported fabrics program implemented by the company allows consumers to gain access to their small town South Carolina business from every part of the world.

Through both the textile recycling and international fabric distribution programs, Phoenix of Anderson says it has made a big impact in the fabric industry, both now and for the future.

Recycling has played an important role in the company’s literal rags to riches success story, and the wholesale fabric company’s “green push” is one of Phoenix of Anderson’s mainstays. It’s about being good to the environment, keeping the landfills low and making recycling operations easier for everyone, according to company spokespeople.

Decades ago, the company, which has been American-owned and operated for four generations, grew to be the major discount fabrics retailer it is today by purchasing textile waste, remnants, overruns, and closeout fabrics from textile mills. This year Phoenix of Anderson plans to increase their recycling and reuse program to set the industry program once again.