First choice: keep it in use.
Repair, swap, share, resell, alter or pass on a garment when possible. These routes generally preserve more of the garment’s value than processing it into a lower-grade material.
Sorting is infrastructure.
Textile collection is not the same as textile-to-textile recycling. Materials need to be identified, sorted and prepared; blends, contamination and missing local facilities can constrain what actually happens next.
Recovery is not a blank check.
Recycling can be useful, especially when it displaces virgin inputs and is matched to real demand. It cannot by itself absorb unlimited throughput. Reducing unnecessary production and extending use still matter.