What is Closed-Loop Textile Recycling?
Textile waste is a menace that keeps growing with each passing year. 92 million tonnes of textile waste is generated annually, 87% of materials used in the textile industry end up in landfills, and 35% of all microplastics in the ocean originate from the laundering of clothes.
These stats are horrifying and should be enough to act as eye-openers for all involved. The fast fashion trend has added fuel to the fire by producing textiles and apparel at terrifying speed. This industry alone uses up 700 gallons of water per shirt it produces! Polyester, the favourite fabric of the fashion world, takes hundreds of years to decompose and there is no easy way to get rid of it completely.
In a perfect world, nothing would be wasted and everything would be put to good use. Resources would be conserved and the earth would be greener. Sounds impossible right? Not really!
Closed-loop textile recycling is the answer to these issues and the solution the industry needs.
Let’s take a look at what it is and how it works.
Closed-loop textile recycling
How amazing would it be if every fabric we used could be recycled and repurposed? Think what it would mean to let nothing go to waste.
That is the idea behind closed-loop textile recycling. Any discarded fabric or textile is taken back in by the industry, reduced into a fibre or yarn, and supplied to manufacturers to be used again. Instead of viewing discarded fabrics as disposable, we can see them as valuable resources that can be reused and repurposed continuously.
What is the process involved?
There are a number of stages to this process that we will break down.
- Collection and Sorting of Used Textiles
The first step is to collect all the textiles that are at the end of their life cycle or are being discarded. For this purpose, different collection points can be set up. Retail stores and businesses can help in getting the textiles collected. Customers can be given incentives to bring the used clothes back to these collection points and help contribute to the recycling process.
The next step is to separate the different materials collected, according to their type, their condition and their suitability for recycling.
- Processing and Recycling Techniques
There are two main techniques used widely while undergoing the process of recycling, namely - mechanical and chemical.
Mechanical Recycling involves breaking down previously used textiles into smaller yarns while maintaining their chemical composition. This six-step process includes collecting and sorting the used textile using some metric which is usually the material type or the colour. The textile is then shredded into smaller pieces in order to be handled more easily.
To eliminate all impurities present in the fabric, it then goes through the carding machines before heading to the spinning machines where the fibres are spun together to create yarn. This newly created yarn is then woven and knit before it is dyed, printed or coated upon.
Chemical Recycling takes a different approach than mechanical recycling. Instead of physically breaking the textiles down, it changes its molecular structure. Textile is collected and sorted removing all non-recyclable components and then is exposed to depolymerization, breaking down polymer chains, through hydrolysis. This is followed by processes such as distillation, and filtration, to segregate the intended chemical compounds.
Advantages of Closed-loop Textile Recycling
When we implement closed-loop textile recycling, we are helping in various ways.
- Reduce the demand for new resources like cotton
- Minimise energy and water consumption by the textile industry
- Divert textiles away from landfills, reducing pollution and waste
- Help to conserve natural resources and protect ecosystems
- Lower greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing the need for new materials
- Promote a circular economy by keeping materials in circulation
- Encourage the discovery of new techniques and methods for production
- Support sustainable practices and reduce the fashion industry's environmental footprint
What Does the System Need?
Some requirements need to be met for closed-loop recycling to work effectively.
- Infrastructure Requirement :
A well-developed infrastructure is needed for the efficient collection of old textiles. There should be properly organised facilities where the materials can be sorted, processed and then recycled on a large scale.
- Technological Advancement:
Latest technologies should be employed to make the working of the system more effective and fruitful.
- Collective Effort:
People need to come together across the entire supply chain of the industry so the effects can be felt on a large scale. Manufacturers, brands, retailers, and consumers should all be taken on board.
- Education and Awareness:
Educating consumers and the public in general is the key. These consumers can be encouraged through initiatives such as clothing take-back programs, incentivised recycling schemes, and eco-conscious purchasing habits. Only when they understand the significance of recycling textiles will they be willing contributors and participants in the entire effort.In this regard, the development of the CELYSTM compostable fibre is a great achievement by the science-backed company INTIMITI Australia. This remarkable fibre is the result of ground-breaking technology that has created a fabric that fully degrades within 179 days under industrial composting conditions. Because of its unique chemical structure this fibre is versatile enough to be suitable for various applications such as in sports wear, suits, underwear, home textiles and so much more.
Final Thoughts
The challenges created by waste are persistent and are not going to be solved anytime soon. We need to keep looking for solutions and ways to tackle the issue head-on. Closed-loop textile recycling seems to be a ray of hope. It holds promise as a sustainable solution that can be effectively adopted by the entire industry.By following this method used textiles can be converted into valuable resources so the need for fresh resources can be reduced to a minimum. The only need is for an efficient system to be put in place where recycling is incentivised and rewarded.
