What Is Textile Collection Software? A Guide for Collectors and Recyclers
Textile collection is a massive industry. In the U.S. alone, over 17 million tons of textile waste are generated every year—and only about 10% gets recovered. The rest goes to landfills.
The companies that collect, sort, and recycle used clothing and textiles are doing critical work. But most of them are still running operations on spreadsheets, paper route sheets, and phone calls.
Textile collection software changes that.
What Is Textile Collection?
Textile collection is the process of recovering used clothing, shoes, linens, and other fabric goods for resale, recycling, or export. It happens through:
- Donation bins placed at retail locations, parking lots, churches, and community centers
- Curbside pickup programs run by municipalities or contracted haulers
- Retail take-back programs at clothing stores
- Drop-off centers at warehouses or processing facilities
Once collected, textiles are sorted by condition. Wearable items go to resale. Damaged goods get processed into industrial rags, insulation, or fiber for new materials. The rest is exported to secondary markets.
It's a logistics-heavy operation—hundreds or thousands of collection points, trucks running daily routes, and fill rates that change constantly.
Who Are the Major Textile Collectors?
Textile collection is a global industry. Some of the largest operators include:
North America
- Goodwill Industries — the most recognized name in donated goods, processing millions of pounds of textiles annually
- HELPSY — fast-growing collector focused on the East Coast
- We Care Recycling — textile and clothing collection operator
- Apparel Impact — collection and recycling of used clothing and textiles
- Planet Aid — nonprofit with thousands of yellow donation bins across the U.S.
- USAgain — one of the largest for-profit textile collectors in the country
- American Recycling Technologies — textile recovery and recycling services
- Savers / Value Village — for-profit thrift retail with large-scale collection programs
Europe
- SOEX Group (Germany) — one of the world's largest textile sorters and recyclers, also operating the I:Collect (I:CO) retail take-back system with partners like H&M and Nike
- Humana People to People — operates massive bin networks across Europe and is the parent organization behind Planet Aid
- Texaid (Switzerland) — collects and processes tens of thousands of tons of textiles annually
- Trasborg (Denmark) — one of Europe's oldest textile collectors, operating since 1917
- Modare — European textile collection and recycling operator
These companies range from nonprofits to large commercial operations, but they all face the same core challenge: managing a high-volume, geographically distributed collection network efficiently.
What Is Textile Collection Software?
Textile collection software is purpose-built technology that helps operators plan, execute, and optimize their collection operations. It replaces the patchwork of spreadsheets, paper route sheets, and disconnected tools that most collectors still rely on.
Route Optimization
The biggest cost in textile collection is driving. Software plans the most efficient routes across your bin network, accounting for fill levels, truck capacity, driver availability, and service priorities. Instead of fixed schedules, routes are built around actual need.
Bin and Container Management
With bins spread across a service area, you need to know where each one is, how it's performing, and when it needs service. Software tracks every container—fill rates, collection history, location performance—so you can make data-driven decisions about where to add, move, or remove bins.
Driver App
Drivers get optimized routes on their phones with turn-by-turn navigation. They log pickups, report fill levels, capture photos, and flag issues—all in real time. No more paper route sheets or end-of-day data entry.
Analytics and Reporting
Know which locations generate the most material, which routes are most efficient, and where you're losing money. Track pounds per mile, stops per day, and collection trends over time.
Why It Matters Now
The textile collection industry is growing. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws in Europe are expanding, and U.S. states are beginning to follow. Brands are under pressure to prove circularity. Municipal curbside textile programs are launching in more cities.
All of this means more volume, more collection points, and more complexity. The operators who can scale efficiently will capture that growth. The ones still running on spreadsheets will hit a ceiling.
Plutou for Textile Collection
Plutou is built for exactly this kind of operation—high-volume collection networks with hundreds or thousands of stops, variable fill rates, and a need for real-time visibility.
- AI-powered route optimization that adapts to actual fill levels
- Container tracking and location performance analytics
- Mobile driver app with one-tap logging and GPS tracking
- Works for textile, clothing, book, and mixed donation collection
Whether you're running 50 bins or 5,000, Plutou replaces the spreadsheet and gives you the tools to grow.