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'''Pre-consumer recycling''' is the reclamation of waste materials that were created during the process of manufacturing or delivering goods prior to their delivery to a consumer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/pre-consumer-materials.html |title=pre-consumer materials |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= |website=businessdictionary.com |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref> Pre-consumer recycled materials can be broken down and remade into similar or different materials, or can be sold "as is" to third-party buyers who then use those materials for consumer products. One of the largest contributing industries to pre-consumer recycling is the textile industry, which recycles fibers, fabrics, trims and unsold "new" garments to third-party buyers.
There are generally two types of recycling: post-consumer and pre-consumer. Post-consumer recycling is the most heavily practiced form of recycling,{{citation needed|date=November 2011}} where the materials being recycled have already passed through to the consumer.
According to the Council for Textile Recycling, each year 750,000 tons of textile waste is recycled (pre- and post-consumer) into new raw materials for the automotive, furniture, mattress, coarse yarn, home furnishings, paper and other industries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.textilerecycle.org/ |title=Welcome to www.textilerecycle.org! |access-date=2009-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805230703/http://www.textilerecycle.org/ |archive-date=2010-08-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Although this amount accounts for 75% of textile waste in the United States, there is little research on textile excess produced in countries that play a larger role in global textile production, such as China, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Bangladesh.
==See also== *Looptworks *TerraCycle *Upcycling
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Recycling