The inaugural Textiles Recycling Expo USA opened this week in Charlotte, marking North America’s first dedicated exhibition and conference focused entirely on textile recycling, as industry players intensify efforts to tackle mounting waste and scale circular solutions.
Held on April 29–30 at the Charlotte Convention Center, the free-to-attend event brings together more than 95 exhibitors and 50 speakers from across the global textile value chain, including recyclers, manufacturers, brands, policymakers and technology providers.
Organised by Applied Market Information Ltd., the expo builds on the success of its 2025 Brussels debut and reflects growing demand for a dedicated platform in the United States to address textile waste and recycling challenges.
The event comes at a time when the U.S. discards more than 10 million tonnes of textiles annually, with only a small share currently recycled, underscoring the urgency for scalable solutions.
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“This is where the future of textiles takes shape,” organisers said, describing the expo as a meeting point for stakeholders spanning fiber production to end-of-life recycling.
The exhibition floor showcases innovations ranging from advanced sorting and shredding systems to fiber-to-fiber recycling technologies and materials derived from reclaimed textiles.
Alongside, a two-day conference is addressing regulatory developments, circular business models and the economic barriers to increasing recycling rates.
Industry groups including SMART Association and American Circular Textiles are among founding partners, highlighting the need for alignment across supply chains to scale textile circularity nationwide.
The launch also reflects a broader shift in the global fashion and textile sector, where pressure is mounting from regulators and consumers to reduce landfill waste and adopt circular systems. Events such as the expo are increasingly seen as critical to accelerating collaboration and commercialization of recycling technologies.
Charlotte was selected as host city due to its historical role as a textile manufacturing hub and its growing ecosystem of recycling and research capabilities, according to organisers.
As the industry moves beyond pilot projects toward industrial-scale recycling, the expo is positioning itself as a catalyst for turning innovation into practical, scalable solutions — and for redefining how textiles are produced, used and reused in a circular economy.
