Textile Recycling Companies and Textile Waste Buyers in Turkey

Textile recycling companies in Turkey collect or buy textile waste (offcuts, scrap, rejects and used clothing), sort it by fiber type and color, shred it back into recycled fiber and turn that into yarn, blankets or insulation. Brands and importers use it to find recycled fiber and yarn suppliers; Turkish garment, fabric and yarn producers use it to find buyers for their waste.

Waste, fabric or fiber?

Rolls and lots of fabric that can still be cut and sewn belong under deadstock fabric; offcuts and scrap are listed here. Recycled fiber is also listed under textile fibers, recycled yarn under yarn, roll wadding and felt under nonwovens and blankets under blankets; a company that buys waste and sells fiber selects both categories. Recycling machinery is under textile machinery, help with certificates under consulting and certification, and dyes and chemicals under textile chemicals and dyes or textile printing inks. Dyeing, finishing and effluent-treatment sludge wastes carry separate codes (04 02 14 to 04 02 20) and are not covered here.

Buying recycled fiber and yarn

In mechanical recycling, waste is cut, shredded and carded; companies in Uşak (also written Usak) shred waste on carding machines to make fiber. According to the 2019 report of the Zafer Development Agency, recycling in textiles mostly ends in low-value uses such as upholstery fabric, insulation, socks and blankets, so test suitability for your application with samples and test reports.

A "recycled" claim needs a percentage and documents. GRS (Global Recycled Standard) applies to products with at least 20% recycled content, and a product-specific label requires at least 50%. Only pre-consumer and post-consumer material counts; residue and scrap that can be reclaimed within the same process do not. Ask for the transaction certificate and the percentages for every shipment (see the certifications guide).

Selling or buying textile waste: code, permit, certificate

• Check the waste code. In the waste list (Annex-4) of Turkey's Waste Management Regulation, waste from the textile industry is group 04 02: 04 02 21 is unprocessed and 04 02 22 is processed textile fiber waste. Separately collected clothing (20 01 10) and textiles (20 01 11) appear in the municipal waste section, and asterisked codes are hazardous. The code follows the regulation's code-determination hierarchy, which starts from the source of the waste, so have the code for your garment offcuts confirmed by the provincial environment directorate or an environmental consultant.
• Ask for the receiver's permit. The regulation requires waste generators to send waste to a facility with the necessary permit or environmental license (article 9), and processing facilities to hold an environmental permit and license or a temporary activity certificate (article 10). The 2021 regulation on pre-treatment and recovery facilities prohibits accepting waste that is outside the scope of the facility's license (article 8), so check the current certificate and that your waste code is covered. This reflects the rules as of October 11, 2026; for your own obligations, such as record keeping and the annual waste declaration, consult an environmental consultant.
• Expect GRS paperwork. If the buyer is GRS-certified and is the first certified link in the chain, it asks for copies of your legal permits and a Reclaimed Material Declaration Form (RMDF); if you are a collector or concentrator, a supplier agreement is signed too (GRS 5.0, A4.1b). Ask the buyer's certification body whether your scrap counts as pre-consumer content.

Waste prices and minimum quantities

There is no official price list. A quote depends on fiber type and blend ratio, color sorting, foreign matter, form, quantity and continuity, freight and payment terms. Mixed fibers and elastane make recycling harder (European Commission, 2022), so put the composition in writing and get the buyer's limits for fiber, color and foreign matter. Agree the minimum (kg, bale or truckload) and who pays freight at the start.

Where the firms are: Tekirdağ, Uşak, Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş stand out

As of October 2026, the 540 firms with a valid capacity report for the “textile waste recovery” product code (38.32.39.00.02) in the Industry Database of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) are spread across 59 provinces; the most are in Tekirdağ (57), Uşak (50), Gaziantep (47) and Kahramanmaraş (39). The spread is wide: first-ranked Tekirdağ has a 10.6% share. The database covers only firms that hold a capacity report and does not replace an environmental permit or license, so ask for the buyer's documents as described above. The 2019 Zafer Development Agency report also describes Uşak as Turkey's textile recycling center. Use the province filter for current companies.

EU rules: destruction ban and producer responsibility

Companies selling into the EU, and their suppliers in Turkey, may need to cover stock, returns and waste in their contracts (Tekstil Rehberi's reading). The EU ban on destroying unsold clothing, clothing accessories and footwear has applied to large companies since July 19, 2026 (European Commission, February 9, 2026), and Directive (EU) 2025/1892 provides for extended producer responsibility schemes for textiles to be set up by April 17, 2028. More: digital product passport article.