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

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...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2022-07, Vol.14 (14), p.8553
Main Authors: Cao, Huantian, Cobb, Kelly, Yatvitskiy, Michelle, Wolfe, Megan, Shen, Hongqing
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
By-products
Charities
Clothing industry
Consumers
Cotton
Elongation
Fabrics
Garments
Industrial wastes
Landfill
Market shares
Methods
Permeability
Polyesters
Product development
Recycling
Recycling (Waste, etc.)
Shredding
Stiffness
Sustainability
Tensile strength
Textile fibers
Textile industry
Textile industry wastes
Thermal resistance
United States
Waste management
Yarn
Yarns
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su14148553