Recycled Fibers for Beginners

Source: Fashion United

There are different situations in which apparel can be developed with recycled materials.

First is textile recycling, the process in which old clothing and other textiles are recovered for reuse or material recovery and second, recycled fibers from post-consumer use (non-textile related) for example plastic bottles, nylon fishing nets, vehicle upholstery, household, and others. Both fibers, natural or synthetic, can be recycled. Once in landfills, natural fibers can take hundreds of years to decompose. They may release methane and CO2 gas into the atmosphere. Additionally, synthetic textiles are designed not to decompose. In the landfill, they may release toxic substances into groundwater and surrounding soil.

Recycling offers the following environmental benefits:

• Decreases landfill space requirements, bearing in mind that synthetic fiber products do not decompose and that natural fibers may release greenhouse gasses.

• Avoided use of virgin fibers.

• Reduced consumption of energy and water.

• Pollution avoidance.

• Lessened demand for dyes.

So how is the recycling process?

For textiles to be recycled, there are fundamental differences between natural and synthetic fibers. For natural textiles (ex. cotton, hemp, bamboo, silk, and others)

1. The incoming unwearable material is sorted by type of material and color. Color sorting results in a fabric that does not need to be re-dyed, saving energy, and avoiding pollutants.

2. Textiles are then pulled into fibers or shredded.

3. The yarn is then cleaned and mixed through a carding process.

4. Then the yarn is re-spun and ready for subsequent use in weaving or knitting. 

In the case of polyester-based textiles, garments are shredded and then granulated for processing into polyester chips. These are subsequently melted and used to create new fibers for use in new polyester fabrics.

For items like post-consumer plastic and pre-consumer waste to be recycled, the process is a little more technical. So we will mention two companies that explain it very easily.

1. ECONYL® regenerated nylon is a product introduced in 2011 by Aquafil. It is made entirely from the ocean and landfill waste, such as industrial plastic, fabric scraps from clothing manufacturing companies, old carpets, and "ghost nets"

2. REPREVE® is the world's number one brand of recycled performance fiber. Their high-quality fibers are made from 100% recycled materials, including post-consumer plastic bottles and pre-consumer waste. They are also certified and traceable.

On the other side, we must know the cons of recycling polyester

Recycling has its limitations - Many garments are not made from polyester alone, but rather from a blend of polyester and other materials. In that case, it is more difficult, if not impossible, to recycle them.

Recycled polyester releases microplastics - According to a recent study from Plymouth University, in the UK, each cycle of a washing machine can release more than 700,000 plastic fibers into the environment. Good news is there are some new solutions to keep microfibers away from our ocean --> https://coraball.com/

Sources: Econyl, Repreve, The Balance SB, Fashion United UK