We tame textiles

Climate change makes a lot of talk about protecting the environment. An important topic is waste segregation and recycling - a process that most of us associate with paper or plastic. However, very little is said about textile processing. And yet, just as the materials we know are recycled, so can cotton. It is the second most important fiber in terms of global production (about 27 million tons per year), one of the most popular materials in fashion. Half of all clothes contain it. The problem is that most of these products, at the end of their "life", are not recycled. This is a big waste, because by producing regenerated cotton we save up to 750,000 liters of water per ton of yarn. This leads to massive waste and a huge burden on the environment.

Additionally, textile dyeing is the second largest cause of water pollution in the world. If we use recycled cotton fibres, they do not need to be dyed as the final color will match the color of the original fibres. All this will lead to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions and water pollution from dyeing processes. What's more, choosing reclaimed cotton instead of virgin cotton drastically reduces the need for fertilisers, pesticides and insecticides. This is very important as it is estimated that 8-10% of the world's pesticide use is related to the cultivation of cotton.

With the increase in global consumption, intensified by the development of fast fashion, more and more often the environment is irreversibly damaged. It's clear that something has to change. Consumers have many ways to reduce the amount of cotton they use in their daily lives. One is simply to buy less, better quality clothes and cotton products. Others are buying used or repurposed items, or purchasing items made from organic cotton grown without the use of harmful chemicals or pesticides. You can also buy items made of recycled cotton.

WHAT IS RECYCLING COTTON

Recycled cotton (also known as regenerated or recovered) is made by converting cotton fabric into a fiber that can be reused in textile products. Thanks to this, instead of ending up in a landfill or incinerator, the products get a second life. Recycled cotton prevents additional textile waste and requires significantly less resources (such as water) than conventional or organic cotton. This makes it a great option for sustainable production.

METHOD OF OBTAINING

Textile recycling comes from two primary sources of pre-consumer industrial waste: including scraps created from yarn and fabric by-products, and post-consumer: including clothing, upholstery, towels, household items. The largest amount of recycled cotton is produced from pre-consumer waste such as off-cuts (consider that in the production of traditional textiles, the average waste of cotton is as high as 45%). Post-consumer waste is more difficult to sort due to the variety of colors, fabric mixes or accessories present in the products (e.g. buttons). This process involves much more organized sorting, higher labor and processing costs.

Recycling step by step

• 1. ASSEMBLY - collection of cotton and clothing waste
• 2. SORTING - pre-consumer and post-consumer waste, clothes and accessories are divided according to color shade and raw material composition. Accordingly, different bales of many shades and compositions are created. This sorting process avoids the re-dyeing of materials.
• 3. CLEANING - sorters remove foreign items such as buttons, zippers and anything that is not recyclable
• 4. SHREDDING - Pre-consumer waste and post-consumer materials are passed through a machine that mechanically reprocesses them into fibers. Recycled cotton is obtained through a mechanical recycling process in which waste and clothing become "new" cotton fibers, without the use of chemicals or natural resources.
• 5. MIXING - Since the quality of the recycled cotton fiber will not be the same as the original virgin cotton, it is usually blended with other fibers such as virgin cotton or polyester.
• 6. SPINNING - The new mix of recycled cotton fibers is spun back into yarn to be reused in new products.

  Every year, millions of tons of fabric end up in landfills around the world. It can take up to several years for a piece of fabric to decompose properly. During decomposition, large amounts of CO2 and methane are released, which are harmful to our atmosphere. Some materials used in modern clothing are not biodegradable. In fact, their natural decomposition can take anywhere from 20 to 200 years! Therefore, if we can make a difference and keep our world clean and reduce our impact on the environment, let's do it. Recycling gives new life to many products and saves them from landfills. It significantly extends the life of existing fibers and reduces the environmental impact of textile production.