From Seed to Second Life: The Journey of a T-shirt
RAIN RFID enables sustainability at every point in a product’s value chain. Follow a T-shirt as it makes its way through the supply chain — and beyond.
In this era of fast fashion and immediate gratification, clothes are easier — and cheaper — to buy than ever before. At the same time, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of the impact their choices have on the environment. Supporting a sustainable, circular economy is fast becoming just as important as following the next viral fashion trend.
Join us as we explore the life cycle of one of the most ubiquitous items of clothing in our closets — the humble T-shirt — and learn how RAIN RFID and the Impinj platform can serve as a vital tool for promoting sustainability, traceability, and a circular economy.
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How RAIN RFID supports a T-shirt’s sustainable journey
When RAIN RFID is used in manufacturing centers, distribution centers, retail stores, and throughout the supply chain, it enables full visibility into the entire life of products. RAIN-based readers access data encoded on tiny Impinj RAIN RFID tag chips affixed to any and every item. That data can be used to drive efficiencies, minimize waste, reduce energy use, and gather metrics for sustainability programs. In the case of an individual item of clothing, RAIN can surface information about what materials were used in its manufacture, how to care for the item, how to responsibly dispose of it at end-of-life, and much, much more.
Let’s take a look at how RAIN can enable sustainability throughout a T-shirt’s journey, from the manufacturer to the recycling bin and multiple points in between.
At the manufacturer
The T-shirt’s life begins to take shape when raw materials arrive at the manufacturing facility. RAIN RFID tags attached to pallets or crates contain information about the materials, such as country of origin, specific farm location, and any applicable organic certifications.
As workers transform the raw materials into the finished product, they attach a RAIN RFID hang tag to the T-shirt or — in a method that’s becoming increasingly common — embed the tag directly into the shirt’s hem. This RAIN RFID tag provides the unique digital identifier that links to that item’s digital twin in the cloud, where in-depth information about the item is stored. The manufacturer adds material and sourcing information, production date, size and color specification, and care instructions. Also added is factory-specific data such as where the T-shirt was manufactured, how much and what type of energy was used in its creation, and what kinds of chemicals may have been added — information that retailers and consumers down the line can access when making ethical and sustainability-related decisions.
At the distribution center
RAIN RFID readers positioned throughout the distribution facility read the T-shirt’s RAIN RFID tag as it enters the warehouse and moves throughout the facility, driving system-wide visibility that increases operational efficiency. Once the T-shirt exits the facility for delivery, RAIN enables access to real-time information about where in the supply chain the T-shirt is so distributors can schedule trucks exactly when deliveries are needed — optimizing delivery schedules, reducing fuel use and emissions, and minimizing driver downtime.
At the retail store
RAIN RFID at the retail store can be used to give retailers accurate insight into stock levels so they can pinpoint the exact location of items in real time — whether on the sales floor, in the warehouse, or at another location. This allows retailers to find and sell every last item instead of ordering more, reducing overproduction and waste.
A recent Impinj sustainability review exploring the link between RAIN RFID use and carbon savings found that retailers using RAIN RFID were able to reduce the average inventory at their stores by 72% compared to retailers who did not use RAIN. This improves demand certainty, reducing the inventory bullwhip effect that drives overproduction. Armed with RAIN RFID-surfaced information, companies throughout the supply chain can adjust their manufacturing and distribution processes, significantly reducing overproduction and thus eliminating the possibility of excess products ever entering the waste stream. RAIN RFID not only helps companies reach sustainability goals and promote environmentally friendly practices — such as those encouraged by the RAIN Alliance in its recent sustainability report — but it offers them a competitive advantage.
In the hands of the consumer
Conventional hang tags or sewn-on fabric garment tags are typically small in size and unable to hold much information. They can be removed by the consumer or fade during a T-shirt’s lifetime, leaving no access to its care information. Plus, many care labels are inaccurate. A RAIN RFID tag embedded into the seam or hem of a T-shirt can withstand over 100 wash cycles, preserving information such as laundering instructions, manufacturing materials used, and proper end-of-life instructions. Access to detailed information about the T-shirt can help consumers make sustainable decisions, such as repairing, recycling, or reselling it instead of throwing it in the garbage. And with RAIN RFID in consumer devices on the horizon, viewing this data will not only be fast and easy, but also safe. Built into RAIN tags is an internationally standardized protocol designed to protect consumer privacy.
At the thrift shop
Without an embedded RAIN RFID tag, the T-shirt may face an untimely demise once it reaches the thrift shop. If the shop owner has no access to the T-shirt’s origin data, they may dispose of the T-shirt without knowing it is a sought-after collectible, for example, or made with high quality or unconventional materials. Impinj M775 RAIN RFID tag chips and the Impinj Authenticity solution engine can cryptographically authenticate products as genuine, immediately flagging counterfeit items. Even if the T-shirt’s value is low, knowing the type of fabric and other materials used in its manufacture can help the store owner fine-tune their sales efforts so the T-shirt ends up in the right hands.
At the recycler
Every item wears out eventually. When the T-shirt reaches the end of its useful life, RAIN RFID at the recycling facility can help ensure it is disposed of in the most environmentally friendly way possible. By reading the T-shirt’s RAIN tag, the recycler can access precise recycling instructions and improve sortation accuracy to make recycling business models work. A cotton T-shirt, for example, can join other cotton items destined for a new life as cleaning rags, crafting projects, or composting materials. RAIN’s ability to capture data on up to 1,000 tagged items per second, from a distance of multiple meters, and without direct line of sight means recyclers can sort and reuse clothing at scale — an effort impossible with manual sorting.
Preparing for Digital Product Passports with RAIN RFID
RAIN RFID’s ability to surface product information quickly and easily make it an idea data carrier to comply with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies as well as the European Union’s upcoming Digital Product Passport initiative, which seeks to create transparency around product information, reduce waste and environmental impacts, and help accelerate the transition to a circular economy. The anticipated deadline for manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, importers and others to comply with the DPP’s textiles mandate is as soon as mid-2027.
While the EU is still finalizing approved DPP data carriers, RAIN represents a significant opportunity for retailers to not only comply with DPP legislation but also gain significant operational benefits. After implementing RAIN, retailers see 25-30% increases in inventory accuracy, 50% reductions in out-of-stocks, up to 80% improvements in shipping and picking accuracy, and cycle count times up to 25 times faster.
Retail isn’t the only industry facing DPP mandates, nor is it the only industry that can benefit from RAIN RFID as a data carrier. RAIN tags can be attached to or embedded in any type of item, such as furniture, tires, and electronics — just a few of the industries that will soon be subject to DPP regulations.
RAIN RFID: Driving Sustainability and Circularity in Retail
The retail industry relies on RAIN RFID to automate self-checkout in retail stores, manage inventory in warehouses, provide real-time, item-level visibility as items move through the supply chain, and more. It only makes sense to consider RAIN as an enabler of the industry’s sustainability efforts as well. By harnessing the power of RAIN RFID, manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and even recyclers can turn sustainability into a competitive advantage — at scale — while creating a more responsible and circular fashion industry.
Read more about how RAIN RFID and the Impinj platform enable sustainability in manufacturing, retail, and throughout the supply chain, and sign up to receive the latest DPP news from Impinj.
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Friday, April 4, 2025
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Megan Brewster
Vice President, Advanced Technology
Megan Brewster works to bring clarity and strategy to far-off points on Impinj’s roadmap and grow the emergent market through technology and standards.
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