In Macedonia, as a country with a developed apparel industry, a significant amount of pre-consumer textile waste is generated, more precisely apparel cutting waste. The aim of this paper is to make an accurate estimate of its quantity, as well as the characterization based on the raw material composition as a prerequisite for its further handling. Before any recycling initiative for textile waste, an analysis should be made of whether its quantity and quality can ensure the continuity of the recycling process. The analysis shows that the amount of apparel cutting waste is a fairly constant value (in the period from 2009 to 2014 an average of 3,377 tons of apparel cutting waste was generated annually). The waste from cotton and cotton blends is most common. Despite the constant annual amount of apparel cutting waste and numerous reasons for its recycling, almost all this waste ends in landfills
