Assignment

Swagata Nag 161051010

The textile industry is considered one of the most complex and polluting industries. This is
complicated because it involves a very long and variegated production of raw materials, textile
manufacturing, garment making, distribution and disposal. It is polluting because not only
production but also consumption produces a lot of waste. Causes of alarm by nature are noticed
again and again to induce seriousness about saving natural resources. Textile waste is generated
in abundance and has various adverse effects which need to be recycled or up-cycled like other
harmful toxic, nontoxic, liquid or solid waste. For an efficient management of the textile and its
waste, it is necessary to consider all the stages of the manufacture of the textiles from fiber to
fashion fashionable fiber. There is immense need for recycling and up-cycling of textile waste to
stop its adverse effects on nature and its creatures.

– Textile industry is one of the top 3 water wasting industries and pollutes fresh water resources
badly. Approx 8500 litres and 2600 litres of water are required to produce a pair of jeans and one
single t-shirt,
respectively.

– Average lifetime of a
piece of clothing is
about 3 years and
more than 1 million
tonnes of textiles are
thrown away every
year, with most of this
coming from
household sources.
Textiles make up
about 3% by weight of
a household bin.

– The textile recycling

industry is able to
process 93% of the
waste without the
production of any new
hazardous waste or
harmful by-products.

– Textiles in landfill
biodegrade to form
methane gas which is released into the air and is not suitable for human consumption, which is
one of the most effects, that recycling is addressing by diverting textile from landfill.

– Polyester and Nylon are not biodegradable, made from petrochemicals and manufacturing of
both uses great amounts of energy so they are unsustainable by their very nature. Polyester
accounts for 65 per cent of the textiles produced each year. Its production required 70 million
barrels of crude oil every year and once sent to landfill will take an estimated 500 years to
biodegrade.. Nylon also emits a large amount of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, during
manufacturing. The impact of one pound of nitrous oxide on global warming is almost 300 times
that of the same amount of carbon dioxide, the most ubiquitous greenhouse gas.

Sustainability is a systemic concept, relating to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and
environmental aspects of human society. It is intended to be a means of configuring civilization
and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs
and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural
ecosystems, and planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals indefinitely.
Sustainability affects every level of organization, from the local neighborhood to the entire planet.
Sustainability may be described as our responsibility to proceed in a way that will sustain life that
will allow the next generations to live comfortably in a friendly, clean, and healthy world; that
people: take responsibility for life in all its forms as well as respect human work and aspirations;
respect individual rights and community responsibilities; recognize social, environmental,
economic, and political systems to be inter- dependent; weigh costs and benefits of decisions
fully, including long-term costs and benefits to future generations; acknowledge that resources are
finite and that there are limits to growth; assume control of their destinies; recognize that our
ability to see the needs of the future is limited, and any attempt to define sustainability should
remain as open and flexible as possible."

Sustainable textiles mean that all materials and process, inputs and outputs, are healthy and safe
for human and environment, in all phases of the product life cycle and all the energy, material and
process inputs come from renewable or recycled sources. It can also mean that materials are
capable of returning safely to either natural or industrial systems and all stages in the product life
cycle could enhance social well being too. Sustainable textiles mean ways of achieving more
sustainable materials and technologies as well as improving recycling in the industry. Sustainability
in textiles refers to the use of resources without exhausting them.

The definition of Sustainable Textiles involves:

• All materials and process inputs and outputs are safe for human and ecological health in all
phases of the product life cycle.

• All energy, material and process inputs come from renewable or recycled sources.

• All materials are capable of returning safely to either natural systems or industrial systems.

• All stages in the product life cycle actively support the reuse or recycling of these materials at
the highest possible level of quality.

• All product life cycle stages enhance social well being.

Waste is generated at every stage of production of textile from fiber to fashion. 5 R’s of textile
waste management are very important tools to overcome the problem of textile waste by
conserve natural resources, landfill spaces and energy. These are: rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle
and reintroduce.

Rethink:

Thought of environment friendless should be of prime concern. It’s the first and most effective
component of waste management. Whether it is production, manufacturing, buying and after use
of textiles, one should take wise decisions.

Reduce:

It means to minimize the burden on environment by limited use of natural resources. Consumer
should buy the materials which are of high strength and durability so that less waste is generated.
Manufacturing methods that require fewer resources and generate less waste can be adopted.

Reuse/ up-cycle:

The textile materials instead of being wasted should be reused again. Reuse means; use the
textile material without any reprocessing for example use of discarded clothes as second hand
clothes. Up-cycling is reusing waste without destroying it in order to form something new. Up-
cycling is more energy efficient then recycling.

Recycle:

Recycling means to reprocess the used items into raw materials which are further used to make
new items thus, recycling refers to the processing back to fibers to make new products. Recycling
takes waste products, breaks them down, and then forms them into something new. Recycling
can be describes as obtaining wealth from waste. This is a strategy now adopted widely.

Reintroduce:

The recycled products should be reintroduced with full respect and potential market. They can be
launched as new brand which is based on recycled products. They are given equal place like
virgin materials in the market by the consumers.

Textile recycling-
Textile industry is among the most essential consumer goods industry. We all need garments and
other textile products such as footwear and bags etc. However, textile industry is also accused of
being one of the most polluting industries. Not only production but consumption of textiles also
produces waste. To counter the problem, textile industry has taken many measures for reducing
its negative contribution towards environment. One of such measures is textile recycling- the
reuse as well as reproduction of fibers from textile waste.

Recycling refers to the breakdown of product into its raw materials to create new products.
Textile recycling may involve reclaiming pre consumer waste or post consumer waste. For
centuries, textile products (apparel and fabrics) were broken down to the yarn stage and the yarn
was used to produce different knitted or woven fabrics. In some cases, the yarns are further
broken down to the Fiber stage and then the fibers were re-spun into yarns to be used in new
textile products. Stages of textile waste recycling are as follows:

– Primary recycling:
to recycle a
product to its
original form. It is
the original
recycling process,
which is the most
beneficial and
intended for man-
made fibers such
as polyester.

– Secondary
recycling: to
convert the waste
into a new product,
probably with a
lower level of
physical,
mechanical, and/or
chemical
properties and the
recycled product
may not have the
same application
as original product.

– Tertiary recycling:
It includes
Pyrolysis,
gasification, and hydrolysis processes which convert the waste into basic chemicals or fuels for
example conversion of plastic waste into its original chemicals.

– Quaternary recycling: it refers to burning the fibrous solid wastes and utilizing the generated
heat

Textile waste recycling process :

Mechanical recycling:

For products of single fiber content fabrics, mechanical recycling is generally used to reclaim the
fibers, yarns and the fabrics. The discarded textile is opened up, apparel is disassembled, and
fabrics are cut into smaller pieces. It is then passed through a rotating drum to continue the
breakdown and fibers are obtained. This process is known as garneting. The resulting fiber
characteristics of length, fineness, strength, polymer, and color determine the quality and what the
most appropriate new end product would be.

– The recycling of wool is hundreds of years old. After apparel (i.e., wool sweaters) had been worn
threadbare, it was collected and shredded into individual fibbers and then converted into
blankets.

– The garments are sorted and then the entire garment is opened and broken up into fibrous mass
on garneting machines. These fibres are then dyed, carbonized and converted into woollen spun
yarns from which blankets are made.

Chemical recycling:

It is a type of recycling process which is mainly used for recycling of synthetic fibers and blends.
Synthetic fibers including polyesters, polyamides, and polyolefins can be recycled chemically.

Objectives achieved

Helps to raise economy of country:

Provides clothes for the poor and disaster relief:

Donations provide clothes for people unable to purchase their own. These clothes are available on
very reasonable prices to improve their living conditions. Recycled shoddy blankets are widely
used for disaster relief because of their cheap and bulk production.

Reduces the amount of pesticides and chemicals in garment production:

Recycling and up-cycling techniques help to reduce the amount of pesticides used in cotton
farming and excess use of chemicals in every stage of production from fiber to fashion.

Reduces energy consumption:


The reuse of 1 tone of polyester garments only uses 1.8% of the energy required for the
manufacture of these goods from virgin materials and the reuse of 1 tons of cotton clothing only
uses 2.6% of the energy required to manufacture them from virgin materials.

Reduces pressure on virgin materials:

Reduces pollutant emissions:


For every pound reused or recycled, textiles account for more greenhouse gas savings than
paper, plastics and glass combined (Chavan, 2014)

Helps to create job:

Recycling and up-cycling is an integrated process that begins with recyclable material collection
from locations such as households, drop-off points, construction and demolition centers and
businesses. After collection, these recyclable materials go through a thorough sorting process to
separate various materials as well as different quality goods. Recycling businesses need varying
degrees of skilled and semi-skilled employees to perform jobs. Many recycling companies and
associations play a significant role in building social awareness by providing recycling training
services.

Contribute to goodwill association:


All the sustainable efforts contribute to goodwill associated with environmentalism to
organizations, companies and nations.