Textile recycling processes,state of the art and current developments: A mini review

Abstract

World fibre production has been rising continuously over last decades and a tremendous increase is expected in the near future. The major portion of fibres goes to the textile industry whose main output streams are apparel and home textiles. With the transformation of these textile products from a basic human need to fashion items, their lifetime before disposal is steadily declining, while at the same time the complexity of their material composition is increasing. As a matter of fact, the amount of disposed items is increasing distinctively and the issue of a proper handling of end-of-life textiles is becoming more important. The objective of this mini review is, first to give a brief overview of the already available textile recycling methods, and subsequently it will discuss innovative developments of new recycling processes in the textile recycling sector. A special focus of this review lies on the emerging field of biochemical fibre recycling processes, which could become a major step on the way to a circular economy in the textile processing chain. Owing to the high selectivity of bio-catalysts, enzymes, these processes could be used to remove a specific fibre material from multi-component textiles. As the complexity of textiles is reduced, the recyclability is increased.

Keywords

Textile recycling circular economy waste management textile waste

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Affordable Wipers (2018) Industrial wiping rags. Available at: https://www.affordablewipers.com/industrial-wiping-rags (accessed 17 May 2018).

Aishwariya

Amsamani

(2012) Evaluating the efficacy of compost evolved from bio-managing cotton textile waste. Journal of Environmental Research 6: 941–952.

Avelar

Rezende

Carneiro

et al . (2016) Evaluation of briquettes made from textile industry solid waste. Renewable Energy 91: 417–424.

Allen

(1927) Garnett machine. United States Patent US1630158A.

Baden

Barber

(2005) The impact of the second-hand clothing trade on developing countries. Available at: https://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/the-impact-of-the-second-hand-clothing-trade-on-developing-countries-112464 (accessed 17 April 2018).

Banerjee

Chatterjee

Madras

(2014) Enzymatic degradation of polymers: A brief review. Materials Science and Technology 30: 567–573.

Bartl

(2014) Moving from recycling to waste prevention: A review of barriers and enables. Waste Management & Research 32: 3–18.

Brooks

Simon

(2012) Unravelling the relationships between used-clothing imports and the decline of African clothing industries. Development and Change 43: 1265–1290.

Buschle-Diller

Yang

Yamamoto

(2001) Enzymatic bleaching of cotton fabric with glucose oxidase. Textile Research Journal 71: 388–394.

10.

Buschle-Diller

Zeronian

Pan

et al . (1994) Enzymatic hydrolysis of cotton, linen, ramie, and viscose rayon fabrics. Textile Research Journal 64: 270–279.

11.

Chand

Nateri

Sajedi

et al . (2012) Enzymatic desizing of cotton fabric using a Ca2+-independent α-amylase with acidic pH profile. Journal of Molecular Catalysis B: Enzymatic 83: 46–50.

12.

Chandel

Chandrasekhar

Silva

et al . (2012) The realm of cellulases in biorefinery development. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology 32: 187–202.

13.

CIRFS (2016) Information on man-made fibres. Brussels, Belgium: European Man-Made Fibre Organisation.

14.

Colomera

Kuilderd

(2015) Biotechnological washing of denim jeans. In: ( Paul

ed.) Denim. Elsevier, pp.357–403.

15.

Csiszár

Szakács

Rusznák

(1998) Bioscouring of cotton fabrics with cellulase enzyme. In: Enzyme Applications in Fiber Processing. Washington: American Chemical Society, pp.204–211.

16.

de Castro

Carniel

Nicomedes Junior

et al . (2017) Screening of commercial enzymes for poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) hydrolysis and synergy studies on different substrate sources. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology 44: 835–844.

17.

Delahay

(2016) RESYNTEX – a new circular economy concept. Available at: http://www.resyntex.eu/images/downloads/RESYNTEX_Introduction_Presentation_2016.pdf (accessed 7 May 2018).

18.

Derntl

(2011) Das Geschäft mit den Altkleidern. Available at: http://fm4v3.orf.at/stories/1676227/index.html (accessed 16 April 2018).

19.

DIN (2005) Cleaning rags, DIN 61650. Berlin, Germany: Deutsches Institut für Normung.

20.

ecofi (2018) Eco-fi | The high-quality polyester fiber made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. Available at: http://eco-fi.com/ (accessed 23 April 2018).

21.

Ellilä

Fonseca

Uchima

et al . (2017) Development of a low-cost cellulase production process using Trichoderma reesei for Brazilian biorefineries. Biotechnology for Biofuels 10: 30.

22.

European Commission (2015) Closing the loop – An EU action plan for the circular economy. Brussels, Belgium.

23.

European Parliament and Council of the European Union (2008) Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives. Strasbourg – Brussels, France – Belgium.

24.

FIBFAB Project (2018) FIBFAB Newsletter, Issue 2. Available at: https://www.aimplas.es/sites/default/files/pdfs/newsletter-FIBFAB-n2–2018.pdf (accessed 27 April 2018).

25.

Guebitz

Cavaco-Paulo

(2008) Enzymes go big: Surface hydrolysis and functionalisation of synthetic polymers. Trends in Biotechnology 26: 32–38.

26.

Gulich

(2006) 9 – Development of products made of reclaimed fibres. In: Recycling in Textiles. Sawston: Woodhead Publishing, pp.117–136.

27.

Gurudatt

Rakshit

et al . (2003) Spinning fibers from poly(ethylene terephthalate) bottle-grade waste. Journal of Applied Polymer Science 90: 3536–3545.

28.

Hasanzadeh

Mirmohamadsadeghi

Karimi

(2018) Enhancing energy production from waste textile by hydrolysis of synthetic parts. Fuel 218: 41–48.

29.

Haub

Kaneda

(2014) 2014 world population data sheet. Available at: https://assets.prb.org/pdf14/2014-world-population-data-sheet_eng.pdf (accessed 12 April 2018).

30.

Leu

S-Y

et al . (2018) Valorisation of textile waste by fungal solid state fermentation: An example of circular waste-based biorefinery. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 129: 27–35.

31.

Ideas Afresh Inc. (2004) About handmade paper – information about handmade paper. Ideas Afresh Inc. Available at: http://www.handmadepaper-products.com/about-handmade-paper.html (accessed 30 October 2018).

32.

IFGAsota (2017) A clear improvement of the concrete quality. IFGAsota GmbH. Available at: https://www.ifgasota.com/assets/Downloads/AFC-MCP-Broschuere.pdf (accessed 12 April 2018).

33.

IHS Markit (2016) Chemical economics handbooks. Available at: https://ihsmarkit.com/products/chemical-economics-handbooks.html (accessed 12 April 2018).

34.

Irgang

Leiler

(2004) Warum in manchen Fällen Einweg ressourceneffizienter sein kann als Mehrweg. Der ökologische Rucksack: Wirtschaft für eine Zukunft mit Zukunft. Hirzel, Switzerland: Schmidt-Bleek.

35.

Jeihanipour

Karimi

Taherzadeh

(2011) Acid hydrolysis of cellulose-based waste textiles. In: 7th international chemical engineering congress & exhibition, Kish Island, Iran, 21–24 November 2011, pp. 21–24. Tehran: Iranian Association of Chemical Engineering.

36.

KERMEL (2008) Military protective clothing, police clothing. Available at: http://www.kermel.com/fr/Military-protective-clothing-police-riot-gear-687.html (accessed 12 April 2018).

37.

Korolkow

(2015) Konsum, Bedarf und Wiederverwendung von Bekleidung und Textilien in Deutschland. Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung e.V.

38.

Krieger

Prezzavento

Edel

et al . (2009) Terminology of man-made fibres. Brussels, Belgium: BISFA.

39.

Lamb

(2017) Biodegradable plastics market size, share, report, analysis, trends – Reuters. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/brandfeatures/venture-capital/article?id=11447 (accessed 27 April 2018).

40.

Lenzing

(2017) Refibra^TM reborn TENCEL^TM fiber. Available at: http://www.lenzing-fibers.com/tencel/refibra/ (accessed 2 May 2018).

41.

Liu

Kokare

(2017) Microbial Enzymes of Use in Industry. Biotechnology of Microbial Enzymes. Elsevier, pp.267–298.

42.

Liu

Shen

Shao

et al . (2001) An analysis of lyocell fiber formation as a melt–spinning process. Cellulose 8: 13–21.

43.

Longhi

Cambillau

(1999) Structure-activity of cutinase, a small lipolytic enzyme. Biochimica et biophysica acta 1441: 185–96.

44.

Mandels

Hontz

Nystrom

(1974) Enzymatic hydrolysis of waste cellulose. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 16: 1471–1493.

45.

Maslow

(1943) A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review 50: 370–396.

46.

Miranda

Sosa Blanco

Bustos-Martínez

et al . (2007) Pyrolysis of textile wastes. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 80: 489–495.

47.

Mishra

Behera

Militky

(2014) Recycling of textile waste into green composites: Performance characterization. Polymer Composites 35: 1960–1967.

48.

Mohamed Abdalla

Hammad Nasser Ali

Ahmed Mohamed Saad

et al . (2012) The chemical characteristics of composted and vermicomposted cotton residues case study in Sudan. World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development 9: 325–336.

49.

Müller

(2016) Verfahren zur Gewinnung von schwer entflammbaren Synthesefasern aus Textilabfällen, schwer entflammbare Synthesefasern sowie deren Verwendung. European Patent Apllication EP3260595 A1.

50.

Nikles

Farahat

(2005) New motivation for the depolymerization products derived from poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) waste: A review. Macromolecular Materials and Engineering 290: 13–30.

51.

Novozymes (2012) Cellulosic ethanol Novozymes Cellic ® CTec3 -Secure your plant’s lowest total cost Application sheet. Available at: http://s3.amazonaws.com/zanran_storage/bioenergy.novozymes.com/ContentPages/2546502386.pdf (accessed 26 April 2018).

52.

Opoku-Asare

Yeboah

(2013) Hand papermaking with waste fabrics and paper mulberry fibre. Online International Journal of Arts and Humanities 3: 71–82.

53.

Oromiehie

Mamizadeh

(2004) Recycling PET beverage bottles and improving properties. Polymer International 53: 728–732.

54.

Palmer

(2001) Enzymes: Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Clinical Chemistry. Cambridge, UK: Horwood Publishing.

55.

Plastextron (2017) COIN-Projekt TEX2MAT. Available at: http://www.plastextron.at/index.php?pub=206 (accessed 4 May 2018).

56.

Reinthaller

Bartl

Marini

et al . (2010) Aggregate for producing construction materials. Austrian Patent AT508898.

57.

Ribitsch

Yebra

Zitzenbacher

et al . (2013) Fusion of binding domains to thermobifida cellulosilytica cutinase to tune sorption characteristics and enhancing PET hydrolysis. Biomacromolecules 14: 1769–1776.

58.

Rosato

Murphy

(2004) Reinforced Plastics Handbook. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier Advanced Technology.

59.

Roser

Ortiz-Ospina

(2018) Global extreme poverty. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty (accessed 12 April 2018).

60.

Salesianer Miettex (2015) Nachaltigkeitsbericht. Available at: http://www.salesianer.at/fileadmin/content/AT/News_Presse_Downloads/Salesianer_Nachhaltigkeitsbericht.pdf (accessed 2 May 2018).

61.

Shojaei

Dadashian

Montazer

(2012) Recycling of cellulosic fibers by enzymatic process. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology 166: 744–752.

62.

Singhania

Adsul

Pandey

et al . (2017) Cellulases. Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering. Elsevier, pp.73–101.

63.

Students Impact Initiative (2018) Kindby. Available at: http://www.siiaustria.com/portfolio/kindby/ (accessed 7 May 2018).

64.

Tojo

Kogg

Kiørboe

et al . (2012) Prevention of Textile Waste. Denmark: Nordic Council of Ministers.

65.

Vecchiato

Skopek

Jankova

et al . (2018) Enzymatic recycling of high-value phosphor flame-retardant pigment and glucose from rayon fibers. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 6: 2386–2394.

66.

Winkler

D’Arcy

Hunziker

(1990) Structure of human pancreatic lipase. Nature 343: 771–774.

67.

Woodings

(2001) Regenerated Cellulose Fibres. Manchester, UK: Woodland Publishing.

68.

Woolridge

Ward

Phillips

et al . (2006) Life cycle assessment for reuse/recycling of donated waste textiles compared to use of virgin material: An UK energy saving perspective. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 46: 94–103.

69.

World Bank (2018) GDP (current US$) | Data 1980–2016. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?end=2016&start=1980 (accessed 12 April 2018).

70.

Yoshida

Hiraga

Takehana

et al . (2016) A bacterium that degrades and assimilates poly(ethylene terephthalate). Science (New York, NY) 351: 1196–9.