Cotton |
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History |
Terminology |
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Fabric |
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Clothing and the environment |
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Cotton recycling is the process of converting cotton fabric into fibers that can be reused into other textile products.[1]
Recycled cotton is primarily made from pre-consumer cotton which is excess textile waste from clothing production.[1] It is less commonly made from post-consumer cotton which is discarded textile waste from consumers such as second hand clothing.[1] The recycling process includes assessing the quality of cotton fibers through systematics collection, manually sorting the materials, and undergoing a mechanical or chemical process to break down the textile fabric into reusable fibers.[2] In the mechanical process, fabrics are torn into individual fibers through a machine, and in the chemical process, the fabrics's chemical properties are broken down through chemical reaction processes such as Lyocell process and dissolution in ionic liquids.[3][4] The mechanical process is the primary way to recycle textiles because the chemical process is not commercially used.[5]
Recycled cotton is less durable than virgin cotton due to the shorter length of recycled cotton fibers which result from mechanical recycling. As a result, recycled cotton requires the addition of additional materials such as polyester to improve durability.[3] Therefore, recycled cotton is often used in products that do not require high-quality cotton fibers such as casual clothing and home building materials.[3][6]
Harvesting raw cotton is a resource intensive process that uses a lot of water, energy, and chemicals.[7] Cotton recycling mitigates wastage and can be a more sustainable alternative to disposal because products can be made out of existing textiles instead of raw materials, therefore, reducing the resources required to harvest raw cotton.[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.[9]
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