Sustainability, resource conservation, the reuse or recycling of waste - these topics are increasingly becoming the focus of society. Against the backdrop of growing mountains of old clothes, terms such as "fast fashion" and increasingly strong private trade, the textile industry is also increasingly and more often the subject of discussion. The lecture will give an overview of the collection, sorting and recycling possibilities of textile waste. The focus will be on the opportunities and limitations of established technologies as well as new approaches. How are the current flows around textile waste designed and what challenges for the future are derived from this? Currently, the focus of textile waste sorting is reuse. This makes eco-nomic and ecological sense, but poses difficulties for waste recycling. Mechanical recycling is state of the art and offers a number of good possibilities, but also has clear limitations in terms of achievable qualities, the separation of materials or the recyclability of textiles. Innovative approaches such as chemical or biological recycling are on everyone's lips and the first (semi-)industrial plants are coming on stream. The ecological and also economic advantages compared to the established recycling methods must first be considered and/or proven in each individual case.One fits all - this approach cannot be implemented in recycling. The solutions must be as diverse as the materials, applications and products. What is needed is cooperation: from design, through production, use and disposal, to recycling.