A Systematic Literature Review—AI-Enabled Textile Waste Sorting
Ehsan Faghih, Zahra Saki, Marguerite Moore
Abstract
The textile and apparel industry faces significant sustainability challenges due to the high volume of waste it generates and the limitations of current recycling systems. Automation in textile waste management has emerged as a promising solution to enhance material recovery through accurate and efficient sorting. This systematic literature review, conducted using the PRISMA-guided PSALSAR methodology, examines recent advancements in computer-based sorting technologies applied in textile recycling. This study identifies and evaluates major technological methods often integrated with machine learning, deep learning, or computer vision models. The strengths and limitations of these approaches are discussed, highlighting their impact on classification accuracy, reliability, and scalability. This review emphasizes the need for further research on blended fiber detection, data availability, and hybrid models to advance automated textile waste management and support a sustainable circular economy.