What will a polyester recycler reject?

Anything that is not 100% polyester by fibre test, which rules out most hotel bed linen and much workwear fabric because they are cotton-rich blends; garments with zips, buttons, badges, reflective tape or elastane trims still attached; PVC banners, which are not polyester at all; foam-backed, coated or oil-contaminated pieces; wet bales; and mixed-colour lots where the recycler's output is to be white or light. The recycler's written acceptance specification is the document every lot is graded against, and a 1 to 5 t trial load is run before any monthly commitment.

Is sorted polyester textile waste a notified waste or green-list?

Sorted textile waste that is textiles only, not mixed with other wastes and prepared to a specification is Basel green-list entry B3030, and within the OECD it moves under the Annex VII information document rather than prior notification. A load with contamination above a minimal level, or a mixed load, falls to notification or cannot be exported. From 21 May 2026 EU shipments run under Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 with electronic procedures, and from 21 May 2027 green-listed exports to non-OECD countries need the destination on the Commission's list. The UK is in the OECD. The classification of each lot on the UK side should be confirmed with the Environment Agency before it ships.

Does the holder get paid, or does the holder pay?

It depends on the lot. A holder disposing of end-of-life uniforms or table linen today pays landfill tax and a gate fee, so a clean, sorted bale collected at no charge is already a saving, and most post-consumer polyester changes hands at zero or a small charge with the recycler covering haulage. A positive price is paid for trim-free, single-colour, post-industrial polyester such as sublimation offcuts, which a recycler can run without further sorting. No figure is quoted until the recycler's acceptance specification and the holder's composition declaration have been matched.

Why is the UK export figure so small?

Because the UK declared only about 7,250 t of HS 6310 exports in 2025 and 5,151 t in 2024, across every fibre, and that code excludes wearable second-hand clothing under HS 6309, which is the bulk of what leaves the country. Most pure-polyester feedstock never crosses a border: it goes by truck from a laundry, a workwear take-back scheme or a sorter to a recycler in the same country. The exportable stream is the NIR-sorted polyester fraction and the large uniform or banner lots, moved by curtain-sider through the short-sea ports or by container through Felixstowe and Rotterdam.

Europe · United Kingdom and EU

Post-Consumer Polyester Textile Feedstock for Recyclers (UK and EU)

Sorted 100% polyester textiles, baled to a recycler's specification, moved by truck and container between the UK and the continent

A polyester recycler, mechanical or chemical, accepts a narrow input. The textile must be 100% polyester by fibre analysis, not a poly-cotton blend; zips, buttons, badges, reflective tape and elastic must be removed; the lot is sorted by colour where the output is to be light, and by dark and mixed where it is not; it arrives dry, free of oil, PVC and foam backing, and baled at 200 to 500 kg with a composition declaration. The streams that meet that test are uniforms and corporate workwear at end of life, hotel and restaurant table linen (bed linen is mostly cotton-rich and does not qualify), dye-sublimated banners, flags and exhibition graphics, sportswear and teamwear including cut-and-sew offcuts, and the polyester fraction from near-infrared sorting lines. The suppliers are the holders of those streams and the people who sort them: laundries and linen hirers, uniform and workwear take-back schemes, display and event companies, charity and commercial collectors, and sorters running NIR fibre identification. The rules now push tonnes toward them. Article 11 of the Waste Framework Directive, as amended in 2018, required every member state to collect textiles separately from 1 January 2025; the targeted revision in force since 16 October 2025 must be transposed by 17 June 2027 and extended producer responsibility schemes for textiles and footwear set up by 17 April 2028. Sorted textile waste that is textiles only, uncontaminated and prepared to a specification is green-list waste under Basel entry B3030 and moves within the OECD under the Annex VII information document rather than prior notification; mixed or contaminated loads fall to notification. Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 governs shipments from EU member states from 21 May 2026, with electronic procedures, and from 21 May 2027 allows exports of green-listed waste for recovery to non-OECD countries only where the destination is on the Commission's list; the UK is an OECD member, so UK-EU flows are not caught by that list, and the UK's own guidance on B3030 is the reference on the British side (VERIFY the Environment Agency's treatment of each lot before shipping).

The trade is small and priced on avoided cost. The UK declared 5,151 t of HS 6310 exports, used rags and textile waste of all fibres, in 2024 and about 7,250 t in 2025, with India (2,540 t), Belgium (1,283 t), Germany (684 t), Sweden (464 t) and France (454 t) the largest destinations in 2025; that code excludes wearable second-hand clothing (HS 6309) and says nothing about fibre, so the 100%-polyester share is a fraction of it. A holder today pays landfill tax and a gate fee to dispose of end-of-life polyester, so a clean, sorted bale collected free is already a saving, and a positive price is paid only for trim-free, single-colour, post-industrial lots a recycler can run without further sorting. CBIL brokers sorted 100% polyester textile feedstock between holders and recyclers in the UK and the EU: a full curtain-sider or 40 ft container of baled textiles carries about 20 t, a first trial is one to five tonnes, and every lot moves with a composition declaration, photographs and, across a border, the Annex VII document and the recycler's written acceptance specification. No holder is named to a recycler, or recycler to holder, until terms are agreed. A requirement from a recycler that states the plant, the acceptance specification (fibre purity, colour, trims, moisture, coatings), the monthly tonnage and whether it pays, collects or charges gets an offer of a specific stream; one without them gets a question first.

The market in figures

UK exports, HS 6310 (all fibres), 2025: About 7,250 t (2024: 5,151 t) · India 35% · Belgium 18% · Germany 9% · Sweden 6% · France 6%
Acceptance specification: 100% polyester by fibre test · trims, zips and badges removed · colour-sorted · dry, no PVC, foam or oil · 200–500 kg bales with composition declaration
Qualifying streams: Uniforms and workwear, table linen, sublimated banners and flags, sportswear and teamwear, NIR-sorted polyester fractions
EU collection and EPR: Separate textile collection from 1 Jan 2025 (WFD Art. 11) · revision in force 16 Oct 2025 · EPR schemes by 17 Apr 2028
Shipment status: Sorted, uncontaminated, specified textiles: Basel B3030, Annex VII within the OECD; Reg. (EU) 2024/1157 from 21 May 2026 (VERIFY per lot)

Official trade data; sources listed below. Landed values are the importing country's declared CIF, not CBIL prices.

Questions buyers ask

What will a polyester recycler reject?: Anything that is not 100% polyester by fibre test, which rules out most hotel bed linen and much workwear fabric because they are cotton-rich blends; garments with zips, buttons, badges, reflective tape or elastane trims still attached; PVC banners, which are not polyester at all; foam-backed, coated or oil-contaminated pieces; wet bales; and mixed-colour lots where the recycler's output is to be white or light. The recycler's written acceptance specification is the document every lot is graded against, and a 1 to 5 t trial load is run before any monthly commitment.
Is sorted polyester textile waste a notified waste or green-list?: Sorted textile waste that is textiles only, not mixed with other wastes and prepared to a specification is Basel green-list entry B3030, and within the OECD it moves under the Annex VII information document rather than prior notification. A load with contamination above a minimal level, or a mixed load, falls to notification or cannot be exported. From 21 May 2026 EU shipments run under Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 with electronic procedures, and from 21 May 2027 green-listed exports to non-OECD countries need the destination on the Commission's list. The UK is in the OECD. The classification of each lot on the UK side should be confirmed with the Environment Agency before it ships.
Does the holder get paid, or does the holder pay?: It depends on the lot. A holder disposing of end-of-life uniforms or table linen today pays landfill tax and a gate fee, so a clean, sorted bale collected at no charge is already a saving, and most post-consumer polyester changes hands at zero or a small charge with the recycler covering haulage. A positive price is paid for trim-free, single-colour, post-industrial polyester such as sublimation offcuts, which a recycler can run without further sorting. No figure is quoted until the recycler's acceptance specification and the holder's composition declaration have been matched.
Why is the UK export figure so small?: Because the UK declared only about 7,250 t of HS 6310 exports in 2025 and 5,151 t in 2024, across every fibre, and that code excludes wearable second-hand clothing under HS 6309, which is the bulk of what leaves the country. Most pure-polyester feedstock never crosses a border: it goes by truck from a laundry, a workwear take-back scheme or a sorter to a recycler in the same country. The exportable stream is the NIR-sorted polyester fraction and the large uniform or banner lots, moved by curtain-sider through the short-sea ports or by container through Felixstowe and Rotterdam.

Sources

UN Comtrade public preview API, reporter United Kingdom (826), HS 6310, exports, read 27 Sep 2026: 2025 (no world row; sum of declared partners) 7,250 t, USD 5.50 million; India 2,540 t; Belgium 1,283 t; Germany 684 t; Sweden 464 t; France 454 t; Netherlands 298 t. 2024 world 5,151 t, USD 6.47 million; Belgium 1,903 t; Sweden 922 t; Germany 811 t; India 402 t. HS 6310 covers used rags and textile waste of all fibres; wearable used clothing is HS 6309.
Beveridge & Diamond, 'EU targets textile waste with Waste Framework Directive amendments' (read 27 Sep 2026): Article 11 WFD as amended in 2018 requires separate collection of used textiles and textile waste by 1 January 2025; targeted revision in force 16 October 2025; transposition by 17 June 2027; textile and footwear EPR schemes by 17 April 2028.
GOV.UK, 'Importing and exporting waste and non-waste textiles' (read 27 Sep 2026): textiles that cannot be used for their original purpose are waste even if recyclable; B3030 applies only to textiles only, not mixed with other wastes and prepared to a specification; contamination above a minimal level moves a load to notification controls or bars export; contact askshipments@environment-agency.gov.uk.
DLA Piper, 'New EU Waste Shipment Regulation: stricter controls' (read 27 Sep 2026): Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 applies from 21 May 2026 with electronic exchange via DIWASS; from 21 May 2027 exports of green-listed waste for recovery to non-OECD countries only to destinations on the EU list; exports to OECD countries remain possible in principle.
Acceptance specification, qualifying streams and supplier categories: desk feedstock research of 24 Sep 2026 built on recyclers' own published input descriptions (100% polyester textiles such as used hotel table linen and post-event banners) and NIR sorting plant pages; no holder or recycler is a named CBIL counterparty.
Truck and container payload of about 20 t of baled textiles and a 1-5 t trial: desk figure, 24 Sep 2026, to be confirmed per lot.