Postconsumer textile waste

OLR has proved feasible in the fashion context, both in collection of pre- and postconsumer textile waste for use in other products, and in collection of used bottles for recycling into textiles. Garments are suitable as a feedstock for products of lesser value, for example carpet underlay or insulation, with many applications possible. However, the varieties of fibre types and colours mean that the resulting shoddy is in unattractive greys or blacks that are unsuitable for spinning into apparel-quality yam. The wide variety of products that utilise pre-consumer textile waste and even post-consumer textile waste demonstrates that the recycling of textiles works when entering product streams of lesser value. 

From 1999 to 2009 in the United States, the amount of postconsumer textile waste (PCTW) reportedly increased by 40% whereas the rate of landfill diversion for PCTW only increased by 2% (www.weardonaterecycle.org). Similarly, from 2003 to 2008, the UK reported a rapid rise in textile waste (from 7% to 30%), which was attributed to the consumption of mass quantities of disposable fashion from bargain retailers (Poulter, 2008). Textiles are 100% recyclable or reusable in some form, and then-diversion from landfills also reduces the impact of the degradation process for many... 

Each year, the average US citizen throws away 70 pounds of clothing and textiles. According to the 2012 Federal Municipal Waste Study conducted by the ERA, 21.8million tons of textile products are discarded each year with only 3.5million tons of postconsumer textile waste (PCTW) recycled, but this comprises only 8.7% of the municipal solid waste generation. Thus, 84% of textile and apparel consumption is sent to US landfills (ERA, 2012). By 2019, the amount of PCTW generated waste is projected to increase by 40%, primarily due to increased consumption of fast-fashion apparel. 

According to the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART) and the Council for Textile Recycling [9, 10], more than 1000 businesses and organizations employing many tens of thousands of workers divert some 2 million tons of textile waste from the solid waste stream. Textile waste can be classified as either preconsumer or postconsumer. Preconsumer textile waste consists of by-product materials from the textile, fiber, and cotton industries. Each year 750,000 tons of this waste is recycled into raw materials for the automotive, furniture, mattress, coarse yam, home furnishings, paper, and other industries. Approximately 75% of the preconsumer textile waste is recycled. 

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