When it comes to textile recycling, ResourceCo Asia is leading the way in Malaysia as significant player in providing this landfill diversion service.

In 2024 ResourceCo Asia repurposed a record 5,100T of discarded textiles. Having undergone sorting at other facilities prior to being sent to ResourceCo, these textiles were otherwise destined for landfill.

ResourceCo’s advanced recycling processes harness the energy within these end-of-life garments, processing it into an alternate fuel, which is used to displace fossil fuels by high energy users.

ResourceCo Asia Malaysia Managing Director Pavel Cech said he was proud to see ResourceCo leading the way with textile recycling.

“As an industry leader we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of key developments for the resource recovery sector, including providing sustainable outcomes for textiles,” he said.

“When you consider the amount of textiles used across the world, specifically in Asia where there is a high amount of textile manufacturing, the fact we are one of the biggest companies in Malaysia repurposing these items shows our commitment to resource recovery.

“These textiles are not waste, diverting this material from landfill is critical and utilising it as a product which can displace the use of fossil fuels adds to the strong value proposition.”

Cech said textiles are a key part of the feedstock received by his facility and he expects to see continued growth.

“In 2024 we saw a near 70% increase in the tonnage of textiles we received, which includes clothing and other items such as shoes and handbags, along with some residual waste from clothing manufacturers,” he said.

“There is no doubting textile recycling is an area that could see continued growth in coming years, given in Malaysia alone the textile manufacturing industry is of substantial size.”