Committed to Circularity

Cotton fiber is naturally circular – it’s grown from earth and can be reused, recycled and even returned to the earth. Whatever your product category, cotton provides you with opportunities to meet your sustainability goals while advancing the circular economy.

Textile to Textile

Woven and knit textiles including apparel and home goods such as bedsheets can be reused, recycled into new textiles and eventually returned to the earth.

Textile to
Nonwoven

Textiles including fabrics for apparel and home goods can be recycled into nonwoven products that are made using spunlaid, spunlace and other manufacturing methods.

Textile to
Engineered Material

Cotton manufactured into a textile can be recycled into a new, engineered product created through 3D printing or injection molding, for example.

Nonwoven

Cotton manufactured into a nonwoven application like wet wipes can be composted after use.

COTTON’S CIRCULAR LIFE CYCLE

Choose a product pathway to explore the
many ways you can close the loop with cotton.

Grown from Earth

Cotton is a natural fiber – grown from sunlight, water and earth – that stores carbon dioxide the plant has absorbed from the atmosphere. *Through the open exchange of best practices and extensive research, cotton producers continuously improve their stewardship of the land and natural resources.

The U.S. cotton industry has set meaningful 10-year goals to guide scientifically sound, national-scale improvement over time.

Learn more about industry goals for sustainable cotton production.
*Cotton Incorporated (2017). LCA update of cotton fiber and fabric life cycle inventory. http://resource.cottoninc.com/LCA/2016-LCA-Full-Report-Update.pdf

Further Reading

Understanding the full range of a textile’s environmental impacts requires the rigorous research and data analysis of a global cotton LCA. The U.S. and Australian cotton industries undertook the task.

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Multiple studies have used international standards to assess cotton biodegradability. Learn what they’ve revealed about how cotton textiles and wet wipes degrade compared to synthetics in a variety of environments.
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These manufacturers, brands and retailers are helping shape the future of their industries by promoting sustainable cotton sourcing with guidance, research and resources from the Cotton LEADSSM program.

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GET
INVOLVED

Meeting your circular content goals can feel like a challenge. Becoming a partner is not. Once you are a partner, we can help you identify ways to advance the circular economy in your supply chain by using sustainably sourced cotton.

Become a Partner