Can recycled wool be organic?

GOTS says it plainly: only organic certified fibres, as defined in its section on fibre origin, count as GOTS goods. Those are natural fibres certified organic at the farm. They are the only fibres that count towards the 70% or 95% needed for a label grade.

Where recycled fibre is allowed

Recycled fibre can appear in the remaining balance as an additional fibre, and only when it is mechanically recycled from pre-consumer waste of GOTS goods. Post-consumer recycled wool, the kind reclaimed from old garments, does not qualify even for that.

Why 100% recycled organic wool does not add up

Once wool has been mechanically pulled back from finished garments, the farm it came from is no longer traceable, so organic provenance cannot be certified. The phrase is internally inconsistent under the standard. When I see it I flag it for a human to look at rather than accepting or rejecting it outright, because it is nearly always an honest muddle.

The right standard for recycled content

The Global Recycled Standard certifies from 20% recycled content, with 50% needed for a consumer label, and adds social, environmental and chemical criteria. The Recycled Claim Standard is a content claim only, from 5%. One product can legitimately hold both GOTS and GRS for different components, because they certify different things.

What it means for my grading

A garment whose main fibre is recycled wool cannot sit in Tier 1, whatever the brand's certificate covers, because Tier 1 rests on organic certification of the fibre. The tiers page explains where it does sit. None of that is a mark against recycled wool. Reclaiming fibre that already exists means no new fleece has to be produced for it. It is just being graded against a different yardstick.