Textile and Product Development from End-of-Use Cotton Apparel: A Study to Reclaim Value from Waste

Abstract

The textile and apparel production and consumption generate a huge amount of solid textile waste. Mechanical recycling is one main method to recycle cotton waste; however, shredding in mechanical recycling shortens fiber length and reduces fiber quality. As a result, the application of mechanically recycled textiles may be limited. This research investigated mechanical methods to recycle post-consumer cotton textile waste and designed and developed second-life products. This study applied research through design methodology and documented step-by-step textile and product development practices to communicate the results. Using the textiles from deconstructed end-of-use garments with a high cotton content (80% or higher), combined with other materials, the researchers developed yarns, and nonwoven, woven, quilted, tufted fabrics. The researchers tested textile properties such as “yarn” tensile strength and elongation, fabric thickness, thermal resistance, air permeability, and stiffness. Using fabrics developed from end-of-use cotton waste, the researchers designed and developed high-value products such as bags, decorative textile, a hat, cell phone and glasses cases, and garments to contribute to the sustainability and circularity of cotton.

Closed loop supply chains in apparel: Current state and future directions

“…There are two main material recycling processes: mechanical and chemical (Blum, 2021). Mechanical recycling can only be used for natural fibers such as cotton and wool (Cao et al, 2022). The small handful of US firms operating an apparel remanufacturing program utilize mechanical recycling due to environmental concerns (Amy Hall, pers.…”

“…However, firms like EILEEN FISHER who use mechanical recycling struggle to collect sufficient quantities of EOU garments in the required natural fibers to have a consistent flow for remanufacturing. Chemical recycling is used for synthetic fibers such as polyester and nylon (Cao et al, 2022). The use of chemical recycling is less dependent on the material blends of the original garments (Cao, 2021).…”

Environmentally Friendly Bleaching Process of the Cellulose Fibres Materials Using Ozone and Hydrogen Peroxide in the Gas Phase

“…Cotton fibre is the second most widely used fibre in the textile industry with a global production of 26.2 million tons and a 24.4% textile fibre market share in 2020 [ 1 , 2 ]. These fibres are a basic material widely used in the clothing and apparel industry [ 3 ], for medical and hygienic purposes [ 4 , 5 ], and also for environmental applications [ 6 ].…”

“…The large cotton production causes significant amounts of waste. Every year, 11.6 million tons of cotton waste are generated worldwide [ 1 , 22 ]. One of the priority directions in the field of wet processing of textiles is directed towards shortening and simplification of the processing sequence influencing the water consumption and impact on the natural environment [ 23 , 24 ].…”

Decolorization properties and mechanism of reactive-dyed cotton fabrics with different structures utilized to prepare cotton pulp

“…The majority of current technologies for recycling waste cotton fabrics rely on physical process that combine the waste material with high-quality cotton ber to create yarns via disassembly and loosening (Cao et al 2022;Ribul et al 2021). The resultant textiles are of low grade, poor quality, and restricted in color and design.…”