SB 707 Compliance Starts at the Sort Line: Building Textile Traceability Data Now
Every extended producer responsibility program runs on the same fuel: data. How much was collected. How it was sorted. Where it went. What was reused, what was recycled, what was landfilled.
California's SB 707 is building exactly that system for textiles. And a new federal bill would have the EPA start tracking textile waste nationally. Here's the uncomfortable part: most of the industry that actually handles used textiles can't produce that data today.
When I talk with thrift and recycling operators, the pattern is consistent. The industry is not ready to collect this data. That's the gap — and the opportunity.
What regulators are building toward
California, now. Under SB 707, Landbell USA was selected as the state's producer responsibility organization in early 2026. By March 1, 2027, it must complete a needs assessment and stewardship plan covering collection infrastructure and recycling capacity statewide. CalRecycle must adopt implementing regulations by July 1, 2028 (Sidley).
Washington, proposed. In September 2026, the Textile Waste Reduction Act (H.R. 10454) was introduced in the House. Among other things, it would require the EPA to publish updated data on textile waste generation and management every year (Recycling Today). It's early — introduced and referred to committee — but the direction is clear.
Both point the same way. Regulators want numbers, and those numbers have to come from somewhere.
Where traceability data actually lives
The final reporting may happen at the brand or PRO level. But the raw facts are created on sort floors:
| Data point | Where it's created | How most operations capture it today |
|---|---|---|
| Volume in | Receiving dock | Weigh tickets, rough estimates |
| Category and grade | Sort station | Not captured, or hand tally |
| Retail vs. export vs. recycling vs. trash | Sort station | Not captured |
| Container or bale contents | Baling and loading | Estimated |
| Who sorted what | Sort station | Not captured |
The sort station is where every item gets a decision. If you don't capture it there, you'll be reconstructing it later from invoices and guesses.
What "traceability" means in practice
For a thrift store or textile recycler, useful traceability comes down to four questions you should be able to answer for any week:
- What came in? Pounds or pieces, by category.
- How was it graded? Retail-grade, export grades, recycling-grade, trash.
- Where did it go? Sold in store, sold online, baled for export, sent to recycling, disposed.
- Which container? Lot-level contents for anything that shipped.
If you can answer those four, you're ahead of most of the industry.
The business case beyond compliance
Traceability isn't just a regulatory cost. The same data pays off in three other places:
- Better prices from buyers. Export buyers want to know what's in the container. A real manifest beats a handshake.
- Production visibility. Per-sorter counts let you reward your best people and fix bottlenecks.
- A seat at the table. As SB 707 funding flows to collection and sorting, operations with real numbers will be easier to fund and partner with.
How to start capturing it
You don't need a new building or a conveyor overhaul. You need a way to log decisions without slowing the line.
That's the job SortIQ was built for. Sorters wear Meta Ray-Ban glasses and log category, grade and destination by voice as they work. Hands stay on the product. Each decision is tied to a sorter, a shift and a container. Container manifests build themselves — category and grade counts per lot — instead of being hand-tallied at the end of the day.
The same system that captures traceability data also prices retail items consistently. Compliance prep and revenue protection come from the same workflow.
Don't wait for the final rules
SB 707 regulations aren't due until mid-2028. The federal bill may change or stall. That's not a reason to wait. Building clean historical data takes time, and the operators who start now will set their own baseline instead of scrambling to produce one.
Start building your traceability record this quarter. Book a SortIQ walkthrough.
General information only, not legal advice. Confirm reporting obligations with counsel or CalRecycle.