Cotton recycling
[7] However, there are costs associated with cotton recycling, such as the risk of problem shifting and the impact of transporting collected materials which could exceed its intended benefits.
[8] Researchers and governments are looking for new technologies and industrial management solutions to improve the social impact of the collection processes for recycled cotton.
[1] Post-consumer cotton is textile waste that is collected after consumers have discarded the finished products, such as used apparel and household items.
[13] Mechanical recycling is the process of shredding textile fabric into fibers, which are then spun back into yarn without the use of chemicals.
[2] When cotton is mechanically recycled, it usually produces a shorter fiber length, which can affect the final quality of the end textile.
The mechanical process of producing post-consumer recycled cotton begins by removing all non-textile elements, such as zippers and buttons.
[4] This process overcomes the issue of fibers being shortened by mechanical recycling, but its scale of use is limited to research experiments and studies such as Eco Circle (Teijin), Worn Again, Evrnu, Re:NewCell, and Ioncell.
[22] The lyocell process is the method of dissolving cellulose (cotton) in N-methylmorpholine N-oxide (NMMO) to form a solution that has hydrogen bonds (NMMO•H2O).
[4] The lyocell process could recover 99% of its solvent and produces minimal and non-toxic waste, and is labeled by the United Nations and the cotton recycling industry as Environmentally Improved Textile Products (EITP).
[23] The production of organic cotton can have detrimental environmental impacts due to the amount of water, land, chemicals, and emissions used to create it.
[7] During the spinning phase of virgin cotton production, large amounts of electricity are consumed which can lead to increased CO2 emissions and acidification potential.
[4] Currently, the most common collection methods are organized based on online platforms provided by brands, and government.
[28] The company offers incentives through promotions or discounts to persuade consumers to recycle through the firm's website, social media, and in-store advertising.
[32] To resolve the dilemma, brand-led recycling is trying to find a balance between consumer incentives and educational purposes of sustainability.
[28] In 2023, the European Union plans to publish a revision of the Waste Framework Directive, which is hoped will provide clearer guidance to improve the current fabric recycling system by implementing commonly shared standards in material collections and classification.
[28][34][33] Also, non-EU countries including Britain, Japan, the United States, China, and Korea have also released laws and policies about wasted cotton material and the corresponding recycling guidance.
