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Showing posts with label Recycle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recycle. Show all posts
Polyester is one of the popular man made fiber which is used 49% in garment industries. Like 100% polyester made fabric, blended fabric like TC, CVC or TR are still famous in the current world.

What is Polyester or Virgin Polyester?
 
Polyester is a synthetic fiber that is synthesized from crude oil or petroleum products which are commonly known as ethylene glycol, dimethyl terepthalate and mostly from polyethylene terepthalate (PET) which is the most common class of plastic in the in the world. It is all around a polymerization process. It is used in clothing to reduce the price, make more durable, wrinkle free appearance, high strength and more resistant. The other advantages of polyester garments are easy to clean and dries quickly. But the garment made of polyester is not environment friendly and it is notorious for many reasons.

The main reason that is harmful for environment is the production process of polyester fabric involves consumption of huge quantity water, chemicals, dyes and energy resources. Thus the water level is reduced, cause to increase the global temperature due to high energy requirement and discharging polluted chemical mixed water into the adjacent water bodies which is harmful for flora and fauna. Also the raw materials and their by products are toxic that pollutes the water and air which are the reason of many diseases.

This artificial fabric is non biodegradable and also less comfort in comparison with cotton due to not presence of breath-ability.


What is Recycled Polyester?
 
Recycled polyesters are made from the plastic bottles that are used for water, juices, oils or soaps. Here, the main raw material is PET and after recycling it is known as rPET. In most of the plastic bottles we find a mark with he number "01" inside the triangular symbol for recycling along with the acronym "PET" below it. It means the PET can be recycled to produce further polyester material.



The process of Polyester Recycling:
  • The collected PET bottles are sorted by color such as to make white polyester yarn separate transparent bottles and for blue separate the blue bottles.Then they are sterilized, dried and crushed into small chips passing trough a grinder.
  • The chips are then heated and dried to avoid any moisture. After that they are passed through a spinneret to form the filament of polyester fiber.
  • The filaments are then strengthen and wounded up in spools.
  • Need to give some texture on the filament is the next process which makes the fiber fluffy.
  • Then the filaments are dyed or colored.
  • Then they are baled and made ready for weaving and knitting.


 



Sustainability of Recycled Polyester:

The process Polyester Recycling requires less energy which is supposed to be 50-60% than the production process of virgin polyester. This is the huge difference between Recycled Polyester and Virgin Polyester. Also the consumption of water, chemical and dyes are very less for rPET. Also using rPET reduces the dependency on petroleum which is the main raw material of polyester. Converting the PET bottles into rPET reduces landfill and thus less soil contamination, air and water pollution.

Since PET bottles are non biodegradable products the Recycling process gives a second life to the material. According to the NGO: Ocean Conservancy, 8 million metric tons of plastics enter into the ocean each year and on top of that the approximate 150 million metric tons are currently circulated in marine ecosystem. If it continues, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Plastic has been found 60% of all the sea birds and 100% to the turtles as they frequently mistake to take plastic as food. Thus, the thinking of sustainability to make rPET is very much required to save the whole environment and specially the marine ecosystem.

The other benefits of Recycles Polyesters are the quality which is similar to the virgin polyester. The production process of rPET reduces 32% Carbon Dioxide(CO2) emission. According to the "Textile Exchange" , the PET can be recycled again and again without hampering its quality though recycling from blended polyester fabric is still a challenge. 100% polyester made fabric can be recycled without deteriorating its fiber quality.

Also we should understand the recycling of polyester has its own limit whereas blended polyester more difficult and in some cases not possible to recycle them. People can think that plastics may be recycled again and again but each time plastics are heated thus the subsequent iteration of the polymer is degraded and the plastic must be used to make low quality product. Though recycled polyester takes almost 59% less energy than to produce virgin polyester but it still takes more energy than both organic and conventional cotton, hemp and wool.


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Recylced Polyester (rPET) | Sustainability of Polyester Recycling

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Polyester is one of the popular man made fiber which is used 49% in garment industries. Like 100% polyester made fabric, blended fabric like TC, CVC or TR are still famous in the current world.

What is Polyester or Virgin Polyester?
 
Polyester is a synthetic fiber that is synthesized from crude oil or petroleum products which are commonly known as ethylene glycol, dimethyl terepthalate and mostly from polyethylene terepthalate (PET) which is the most common class of plastic in the in the world. It is all around a polymerization process. It is used in clothing to reduce the price, make more durable, wrinkle free appearance, high strength and more resistant. The other advantages of polyester garments are easy to clean and dries quickly. But the garment made of polyester is not environment friendly and it is notorious for many reasons.

The main reason that is harmful for environment is the production process of polyester fabric involves consumption of huge quantity water, chemicals, dyes and energy resources. Thus the water level is reduced, cause to increase the global temperature due to high energy requirement and discharging polluted chemical mixed water into the adjacent water bodies which is harmful for flora and fauna. Also the raw materials and their by products are toxic that pollutes the water and air which are the reason of many diseases.

This artificial fabric is non biodegradable and also less comfort in comparison with cotton due to not presence of breath-ability.


What is Recycled Polyester?
 
Recycled polyesters are made from the plastic bottles that are used for water, juices, oils or soaps. Here, the main raw material is PET and after recycling it is known as rPET. In most of the plastic bottles we find a mark with he number "01" inside the triangular symbol for recycling along with the acronym "PET" below it. It means the PET can be recycled to produce further polyester material.



The process of Polyester Recycling:
  • The collected PET bottles are sorted by color such as to make white polyester yarn separate transparent bottles and for blue separate the blue bottles.Then they are sterilized, dried and crushed into small chips passing trough a grinder.
  • The chips are then heated and dried to avoid any moisture. After that they are passed through a spinneret to form the filament of polyester fiber.
  • The filaments are then strengthen and wounded up in spools.
  • Need to give some texture on the filament is the next process which makes the fiber fluffy.
  • Then the filaments are dyed or colored.
  • Then they are baled and made ready for weaving and knitting.


 



Sustainability of Recycled Polyester:

The process Polyester Recycling requires less energy which is supposed to be 50-60% than the production process of virgin polyester. This is the huge difference between Recycled Polyester and Virgin Polyester. Also the consumption of water, chemical and dyes are very less for rPET. Also using rPET reduces the dependency on petroleum which is the main raw material of polyester. Converting the PET bottles into rPET reduces landfill and thus less soil contamination, air and water pollution.

Since PET bottles are non biodegradable products the Recycling process gives a second life to the material. According to the NGO: Ocean Conservancy, 8 million metric tons of plastics enter into the ocean each year and on top of that the approximate 150 million metric tons are currently circulated in marine ecosystem. If it continues, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Plastic has been found 60% of all the sea birds and 100% to the turtles as they frequently mistake to take plastic as food. Thus, the thinking of sustainability to make rPET is very much required to save the whole environment and specially the marine ecosystem.

The other benefits of Recycles Polyesters are the quality which is similar to the virgin polyester. The production process of rPET reduces 32% Carbon Dioxide(CO2) emission. According to the "Textile Exchange" , the PET can be recycled again and again without hampering its quality though recycling from blended polyester fabric is still a challenge. 100% polyester made fabric can be recycled without deteriorating its fiber quality.

Also we should understand the recycling of polyester has its own limit whereas blended polyester more difficult and in some cases not possible to recycle them. People can think that plastics may be recycled again and again but each time plastics are heated thus the subsequent iteration of the polymer is degraded and the plastic must be used to make low quality product. Though recycled polyester takes almost 59% less energy than to produce virgin polyester but it still takes more energy than both organic and conventional cotton, hemp and wool.


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In the sustainability context, recycle cotton is a popular topic with high interest of manufacturers, brands and retailers. For the entire supply chain of textile, recycled cotton can play a vital role to fulfill the goal of sustainability. Cotton is the most popular and comfortable fiber that is used around 56% of total fiber uses across the world. It has reliable quality performance as it is versatile, breathable and very comfortable to wear off.


Conventional cotton harvesting involves use of large scale pesticides,, herbicides and fertilizers that cause to harm the whole environment. In addition, cotton harvesting and processing requires huge amount of water that is left as wastewater cause harm for aquatic lives. 

For sustainable cotton harvesting there are some concept already exists like Organic Cotton( GOTS of OCS Certified cotton), Fairtrade cotton and Better Cotton (BCI). Besides the organic, Fairtrade and BCI cotton the new concept is recycled or regenerated cotton. It is not that much new as it was initiated in the beginning of 21st century and still continues with more and more research. 

Recycled cotton prevents unnecessary wastage and can be a more sustainable alternative to disposal. It can come from secondhand clothing or from textile waste or leftovers which are eventually spun into new yarns and then fabric. It is also commonly referred to as regenerated cotton or reclaimed cotton. Basically the sources of cotton recycling are two types: Pre-consumer cotton and Post-consumer cotton.

 

Pre-consumer cotton: Includes wastage in yarn production, fabric, garments cutting room or so on that are not used for any clothing

Post-consumer Cotton: Includes used garments, upholstery, towels, household items.

In fact, the largest share of the source is pre-consumer waste.




Process of Cotton Recycling: It is all together mechanical recycling method. The wastes are collected and then sorted into colors as they are already dyed. After sorting, the fabrics or other kind of pre consumer wastages are run through  a machine that shreds them into yarn and further into raw fiber. This is a critical process and puts a great deal of strain on the fiber thus it becomes weaken and entangled during shredding.  


The raw fibers is then spun into yarns for reuse in the other products. Since the quality will not be the same as original cotton thus it is spun with other fibers as blend. Most common blend happens with virgin cotton and polyester. The fiber length and uniformity will be impacted which leads to limit of the end use application.

Use of Recycled Cotton:
It is frequently blended with some other fibers to make fabric or other textiles, creating sustainable environmental friendly product. Recycled cotton can be used in industrial settings for polishing. It is popular to be made high quality paper with recycled cotton. The papers used for high command official purposes are mostly made of recycled cotton. It is also used for seat stuffing and automotive insulation in the industry of automobiles. Now Denim fabric mills are using recycle poly as a new concept under sustainable umbrella for the high interest of Brands and Retailers.

Benefits of Cotton Recycling:
  • It can be used for insulation, rags of stuffing where it appears with new life cycle.
  • Recycling process prevent unwanted wastage that can divert many products from landfills. According to the Council for Textile Recycling, annual textile waste is estimated about 25 billion pounds.
  • Since it is already colored so after recycling further coloring is not required
  • The amount of energy, water and dyestuff use is reduced since recycled cotton yarns most commonly are sourced from pre-consumer textiles that are sorted by color.
  • Reduce the emission of CO2 and other fossil fuel.

Challenges of Cotton Recycling:
  • Since Cotton becomes weaken during recycling it must be blended with other fibers to be produced new yarn with required strength and durability and therefore it can not recycled further.
  • Any amount of recycled product will impact the yarn and fabric properties such as length, strength, evenness and uniformity.
  • Cost is generally higher than the standard cotton processing
  • Test results are not that much good.
  • In a product not more than 30% recycled cotton can be used.
  • Consumer interest to buy recycled cotton product with higher price is less.

After all, Cotton is a fiber that is naturally biodegradable, based on a study of North Carlina State University of USA, more that 75% cotton decomposed in soil within 273 days of dumping. So it is naturally a sustainable fiber all together. 


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Recycled Cotton | Benefits and Challenges of Cotton Recycling

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In the sustainability context, recycle cotton is a popular topic with high interest of manufacturers, brands and retailers. For the entire supply chain of textile, recycled cotton can play a vital role to fulfill the goal of sustainability. Cotton is the most popular and comfortable fiber that is used around 56% of total fiber uses across the world. It has reliable quality performance as it is versatile, breathable and very comfortable to wear off.


Conventional cotton harvesting involves use of large scale pesticides,, herbicides and fertilizers that cause to harm the whole environment. In addition, cotton harvesting and processing requires huge amount of water that is left as wastewater cause harm for aquatic lives. 

For sustainable cotton harvesting there are some concept already exists like Organic Cotton( GOTS of OCS Certified cotton), Fairtrade cotton and Better Cotton (BCI). Besides the organic, Fairtrade and BCI cotton the new concept is recycled or regenerated cotton. It is not that much new as it was initiated in the beginning of 21st century and still continues with more and more research. 

Recycled cotton prevents unnecessary wastage and can be a more sustainable alternative to disposal. It can come from secondhand clothing or from textile waste or leftovers which are eventually spun into new yarns and then fabric. It is also commonly referred to as regenerated cotton or reclaimed cotton. Basically the sources of cotton recycling are two types: Pre-consumer cotton and Post-consumer cotton.

 

Pre-consumer cotton: Includes wastage in yarn production, fabric, garments cutting room or so on that are not used for any clothing

Post-consumer Cotton: Includes used garments, upholstery, towels, household items.

In fact, the largest share of the source is pre-consumer waste.




Process of Cotton Recycling: It is all together mechanical recycling method. The wastes are collected and then sorted into colors as they are already dyed. After sorting, the fabrics or other kind of pre consumer wastages are run through  a machine that shreds them into yarn and further into raw fiber. This is a critical process and puts a great deal of strain on the fiber thus it becomes weaken and entangled during shredding.  


The raw fibers is then spun into yarns for reuse in the other products. Since the quality will not be the same as original cotton thus it is spun with other fibers as blend. Most common blend happens with virgin cotton and polyester. The fiber length and uniformity will be impacted which leads to limit of the end use application.

Use of Recycled Cotton:
It is frequently blended with some other fibers to make fabric or other textiles, creating sustainable environmental friendly product. Recycled cotton can be used in industrial settings for polishing. It is popular to be made high quality paper with recycled cotton. The papers used for high command official purposes are mostly made of recycled cotton. It is also used for seat stuffing and automotive insulation in the industry of automobiles. Now Denim fabric mills are using recycle poly as a new concept under sustainable umbrella for the high interest of Brands and Retailers.

Benefits of Cotton Recycling:
  • It can be used for insulation, rags of stuffing where it appears with new life cycle.
  • Recycling process prevent unwanted wastage that can divert many products from landfills. According to the Council for Textile Recycling, annual textile waste is estimated about 25 billion pounds.
  • Since it is already colored so after recycling further coloring is not required
  • The amount of energy, water and dyestuff use is reduced since recycled cotton yarns most commonly are sourced from pre-consumer textiles that are sorted by color.
  • Reduce the emission of CO2 and other fossil fuel.

Challenges of Cotton Recycling:
  • Since Cotton becomes weaken during recycling it must be blended with other fibers to be produced new yarn with required strength and durability and therefore it can not recycled further.
  • Any amount of recycled product will impact the yarn and fabric properties such as length, strength, evenness and uniformity.
  • Cost is generally higher than the standard cotton processing
  • Test results are not that much good.
  • In a product not more than 30% recycled cotton can be used.
  • Consumer interest to buy recycled cotton product with higher price is less.

After all, Cotton is a fiber that is naturally biodegradable, based on a study of North Carlina State University of USA, more that 75% cotton decomposed in soil within 273 days of dumping. So it is naturally a sustainable fiber all together. 


You May Also Like:

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