How And Why Textiles Are Recycled?
Have you ever wondered how many fabric products are created every year in the world, and how many clothes, unusable or simply unnecessary textiles are thrown away?
Imagine, every day about 200,000 tons, and this figure, unfortunately, is only growing. The question of the reasonableness of using fabrics as recyclable materials and giving a second chance to textiles in an obscene form has arisen recently, despite the fact that waste paper and even metals have been recycled for many years.
Why Recycle Textiles?
Recycling textiles means using old clothing and woven materials as recyclable materials or for material recovery.
We strive for the disposal and recycling of waste, but so far there are no sane and adequate solutions to this issue.
And you can’t just throw away textile products, they will require centuries to decompose.
This applies to textiles made from natural fibers, synthetic fabric does not decompose at all or they require an extremely long period of time. Accumulated textile waste from natural fibers emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and synthetic fibers can release toxic substances into the soil and groundwater, which reduces the quality of the water and can affect crops.
In the United States, for example, an entire SMART association is involved in recycling textiles for reuse. In third world countries, unfortunately, they have not yet dealt with this issue, there are only a few niche brands that are developing this kind of services according to the principles of slow fashion.
The manufacturing process in the textile industry, image source: unsplash.com
Processing
The demand for processing has grown, of course, due to the appetite and the turnover of the textile industry itself. It includes not only clothes but also fabrics for furniture and mattresses, curtains, couch cushions, bed linen, towels, accessories.
Pros of textile recycling:
- Reduction of landfills and landfills, reduction of the area of existing
- Reduced water and energy costs for the production of new fabrics
- Prevention of air pollution
- Reducing the use of chemical dyes
There are the following sources for textile recycling:
- Consumer waste produced after purchase and use for years. An this is done by the consumer (includes furniture fabric, mattresses, home textiles, clothing, shoes, vehicle upholstery, household items, accessories, etc.)
- Textile wastes resulted after production and produced during the manufacturing process of fabrics and clothing, including yarn waste and by-products (in other words, before purchase – defective production, decommissioned products, surplus products). However, many luxury brands, such as Burberry, still burn the leftovers of unsold clothing from the collection ahead of the new season, which is unethical and at least, …weird.
- The collected, unwearable material is sorted by fiber type and color. Sorting by color eliminates the need for subsequent staining, which saves energy and avoids the use of additional pollutants in production.
- Then the textiles are disassembled into fibers or shredded. Sometimes, depending on the end-use, other fibers are introduced into the yarn.
- The threads are cleaned and blended using a carding process. Then the threads are re-twisted and prepared for the subsequent manufacture of fabrics or knitted products from them.
- Some fibers do not twist into threads, but are used as fillers, for example, for mattresses.
In the case where the recyclable products are made of a polyester-based material, they are crushed and then granulated and turned into polyester chips. Subsequently, the crumb is melted and used to create new polyester fabrics.
How are textiles and fabrics produced today, image source: unsplash.com
How Are Fabrics And Clothing Recycled?
Collection
In order to get rid of unnecessary things from textiles, you can give them for free to someone who needs them, you can also donate to a charity fund, sell them cheaply (just to get rid of them), find a new use for them, or create some other things out of them. Also in some cities, there is an opportunity to donate clothes to reception points.
After that they are reused in the manufacturing process of new clothes.
Sorting
After collecting the textiles, they begin to manually sort the materials, depending on the type of fiber and condition. Sorting also separates clothes and shoes that are still suitable for use. Unwearable textiles are sent for recycling.
Processing
In Canada, 10 percent of garments collected are sold at thrift stores, and 90 percent of donated textiles are recycled. In the UK, about 50 percent of the textiles collected for recycling are recycled and about 50 percent are recycled. Many large companies, such as H&M, Nike, and Monki, support the idea of recycling and provide discounts to those customers who drop off their clothes in their stores in special green boxes.
Transportation
About 61 percent of reclaimed clothing that can still be worn is exported to other countries. In some African countries, 80 percent of the population purchases used clothing. There are also many second-hand stores.
Natural or synthetic fibers, image source: unsplash.com
Processing of Fabrics Made From Natural and Synthetic Fibers
Since natural and synthetic textiles have different fibers and different dyeing methods, there are fundamental differences in their processing methods.
For natural fabrics:
How Can You Help?
You think that you do not have many opportunities for conscious consumption and harm reduction in the textile industry because you are not at the head of a large textile concern or a fashion brand. But it is not so.
As a consumer, you can influence the situation by choosing slow fashion over fast fashion. Fast fashion is a mass-market that produces new batches of clothing every month on a large scale, which greatly harms the environment, and can affect us in the long run.
Fast fashion chases after momentary trends, neglecting the quality of production, from which the environment suffers as a result.
You can influence this by buying less. If you buy one coat for several years, one pair of boots, one pair of jeans, etc., and you use them longer, to will visit less often the store, so you will buy less and start saving.
By preferring quality to quantity, you reduce the very consumption of clothing, which entails continuous production, and, therefore, harm the atmosphere and the environment in general.
