US thrift boom could keep more textiles from landfills as Gen Z drives resale

James Nanzo | The Cool Down • July 16, 2026

Americans looking to stretch their budgets are increasingly turning to thrift stores, and that shift could pay off in ways that go beyond cheaper fashion, as Retail Dive detailed.


Growing interest in resale could also cut textile waste by keeping clothing in use longer before it ends up in the trash.


What's happening?

At a Northeast Recycling Council webinar, panelists described thrift stores as an important checkpoint before clothing becomes waste, according to Retail Dive. As secondhand shopping becomes more common, more garments have a chance to be reused, resold, repaired, or otherwise redirected instead of being thrown away.


Giana Manganaro Cronin, associate director of retail for More Than Words, said high prices, tariff worries, and broader economic uncertainty have made more consumers willing to thrift, as Retail Dive reported. 


Young consumers are a big part of that momentum. Cronin said roughly 64% of Gen Z shoppers check resale avenues before purchasing something new, according to Retail Dive.


Meanwhile, Uli Stosch, chief officer of strategic development for Planet Aid, pointed to a ThredUp report cited by Retail Dive that estimated 14% growth in the U.S. secondhand apparel market in 2024 and a rise to $74 billion by 2029.


Why does it matter?

For budget-conscious households, secondhand shopping can mean major savings on basics such as jeans, jackets, and kids clothes along with the chance to find rare or high-value items at steep discounts.


A big challenge with textile waste is that clothing is hard to sort and recycle. Katarina Goodge, a materials research engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said recyclers often do not have the details they need to handle garments correctly, per Retail Dive. 


"We need to know the fiber content to know how to recycle that garment," Goodge explained at the summit, according to the outlet.

The reach of secondhand clothing goes well beyond local thrift racks. Retail Dive reported that more than 1.5 billion people globally depend on secondhand clothing, and that a study from Full Cycle Resource revealed Guatemala imported 290 million pounds in 2023, reusing more than 91% of it. 


Even so, Stosch said many stores sell only about 10-50% of what they receive, with some of the remainder compressed for export under the "mixed rags" label, according to Retail Dive.


Keeping clothes in circulation longer can reduce strain on landfills and lower demand for resource-intensive new production. Still, the clothes that don't make it aren't easy to deal with.


Stosch said workers in countries such as Pakistan and Malaysia often sort clothing by hand, according to Retail Dive.


What's being done?

Possible solutions are coming from both researchers and policymakers. Goodge said that handheld near-infrared tools used with artificial intelligence or machine learning could speed up fiber identification, which may eventually make textile recycling more practical at scale, per Retail Dive.


States are also stepping in, Retail Dive noted. In Massachusetts, textile disposal bans have already drawn more attention to clothing that cannot be resold. Stosch said receiving clean but slightly damaged clothing is workable for thrift stores, according to Retail Dive.


The outlet reported that California is putting its textile extended producer responsibility law into effect, a move expected to expand donation, repair, and recycling options. Goodge concluded that repair has "huge potential" to cut into the problem, as Retail Dive reported.


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