What Consumers Actually Discard: Material Evidence of Resource Recovery Misalignment in Post‑Consumer Textile Systems

Circular textile systems are commonly evaluated through collection rates, yet little empirical evidence assesses whether collected garments are materially compatible with downstream reuse and recycling infrastructures. This study examines the structural properties of post-consumer garment (PCG) flows through systematic physical assessment of 1,237 items collected across three channels in Hong Kong. Garments were coded by functional category, observable condition, fiber composition, and brand tier, and classified according to recovery-pathway alignment. Only 19% of collected items are directly compatible with existing reuse or recycling infrastructures, while 81% are structurally misaligned due to limited secondary-market absorption or fiber heterogeneity. Misalignment is therefore not primarily a consequence of insufficient collection participation, but of upstream design, labeling, and market-positioning decisions embedded within production systems. These findings reframe circular textile performance as a material–infrastructure alignment problem and highlight the need to integrate product design, market development, and information transparency into circular system strategies.