A new global ranking of circular economies reveals surprising leaders in waste reduction and resource efficiency, but the picture shifts dramatically when it comes to textiles. The study, commissioned by packaging company Arka, assessed 75 countries on how effectively they keep materials in use, blending metrics on raw material efficiency, municipal waste recycling, e-waste generation, and the flow of used clothing across borders. Main Developments Singapore claimed the top spot with a perfect circularity score of 100, recycling more than half of its municipal waste and using just 0.39 kilograms of raw materials per dollar of economic output. The city-state also exports only 0.58 kilograms of used clothing per person annually, indicating a relatively low volume of textile waste leaving its borders. Austria, Slovenia, Germany, Latvia, Denmark, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, and the Republic of Korea rounded out the top ten, with several nations excelling in specific areas. Germany donated 450 million kilograms of used clothing to charities each year—the largest volume among all studied countries—while maintaining a 47 percent municipal waste recycling rate, tied with Slovenia. Read also: Hugo Boss's Turnaround Pain: Why Sales Keep Falling Slovenia, with a population of roughly 2 million, exported 2.2 million kilograms of used textiles, a notable per-capita volume. Austria exported about 31.6 million kilograms annually, suggesting its citizens donate or sell most of their discarded clothing, and achieved a 52 percent municipal recycling rate—well above most European neighbors. Latvia, ranked fifth overall, imported 16.7 million kilograms of used garments, absorbing more textiles than it exported and signaling a robust secondhand clothing market. The country also recycled 36 percent of its municipal waste. Background The study, which analyzed 75 nations, used data from the United Nations Comtrade commodity report for 2022–2023 to track used clothing net exports. It also drew on the U.N.'s Global Waste Management Outlook, which notes that only 19 percent of municipal solid waste is recycled worldwide. Countries with populations under 1 million, as well as non-sovereign territories like Puerto Rico and Hong Kong, were excluded. Notably, major economies including the United States, the United Kingdom, and China were absent because they lacked data on used clothing imports and exports—one of the four required metrics. Why It Matters The findings highlight that leadership in circularity is not uniform across all waste streams. While Singapore excels overall, the textile-specific rankings tell a different story, with the United Arab Emirates scoring a perfect 100 on textile reuse, followed by Tunisia (92.99), Benin (91.55), and Malaysia (86.12). These disparities underscore the complexity of measuring sustainability. A country can be a leader in municipal recycling yet lag in textile circularity, and vice versa. For policymakers and consumers, the report offers a more nuanced view of what circularity really entails. As one of Arka's packaging experts noted, top-performing countries like Germany and Singapore built their systems over decades—Germany overhauled its waste management in 1990, while Singapore made recycling mandatory in commercial buildings in the 1990s. These examples show that consistent policy and public participation are key to long-term progress. What's Next The report's exclusion of the U.S., U.K., and China points to a data gap that could be addressed in future studies. If those nations provide used clothing trade data, they could be included in subsequent rankings, potentially altering the global picture. For now, the study serves as a benchmark for countries aiming to improve their circularity scores. As the world grapples with mounting waste, the strategies of leaders like Singapore and Germany offer a roadmap—and a reminder that meaningful change takes time.