5.8.13.5.4Sub-vertical

Sustainable & Recycled Textile Processing

Processors producing textiles from recycled and sustainable fiber sources.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Textiles & Technical Fabrics (5.8.13), the segment that Sustainable & Recycled Textile Processing sits within. They are not figures for Sustainable & Recycled Textile Processing on its own.

Market size
~$50B
Growth
~-0.2%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~6,791 firms
Firms by employee count

78.2% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 5,309 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe1,482 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
95264%
100–499
33823%
500+
19213%

The only segment here that shrank, and the only one where that is structural rather than cyclical. Commodity textile production continues to leave. What remains and grows is technical: nonwovens, coated fabrics and industrial textiles sold on specification into filtration, medical and automotive. The aggregate decline conceals that split.

NAICS 313110, 313210, 313220, 313230, 313240, 313310, 313320, 314110, 314120, 314910, 314994, 314999, 316110. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Fiber, fabric, and technical-textile manufacturing

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$7,547,253
Revenue per employee
$278,997
Employees per firm
28.4
Recurring revenue
Moderate

recurring industrial and technical supply

EBITDA margin
Thin commodity; richer technical/nonwoven
Capex intensity
Moderate

Characteristics

  • Scale-driven: payroll is only 17% of revenue, so the cost base is assets, not headcount
  • Deep strategic-buyer pool: 192 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has trade buyers
  • Long-term commodity decline; technical/nonwoven future.
  • Nonwovens driven by hygiene, medical, and filtration.
  • Fragmented, consolidating domestic base.

NAICS 313110, 313210, 313220, 313230, 313240, 313310, 313320, 314110, 314120, 314910, 314994, 314999, 316110. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Geographic concentration

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaHawaiiIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaNorth CarolinaSouth CarolinaRhode Island

The one segment that did not follow the Midwest: the Carolinas remain the center of American textile production, and Rhode Island retains a narrow-fabrics and braiding cluster far older than the industry's southern migration.

North CarolinaRhode IslandSouth Carolina

U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses (firms by state), NAICS 313110/313210/313220/313230/313240/313310/313320/314110/314120/314910/314994/314999/316110. Concentration shown by location quotient.

M&A deal context

Deal activityModerate

Who’s acquiring

  • Technical-textile & nonwoven strategics
  • PE-backed platforms
  • Specialty-fabric consolidators

What’s driving deals

  • Technical-textile and nonwoven growth.
  • Consolidation amid commodity decline.
  • Domestic specialty and reshoring niches.

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