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International Conference on Applied Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 477 (2019) 012004 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/477/1/012004

Recycling of textile wastes into textile composites based on

natural fibres: the valorisation potential

M P Todor 1, C Bulei1, I Kiss2 and V Alexa2

1
University Politehnica Timisoara, Faculty of Engineering Hunedoara, Doctoral
School, Timisoara / Hunedoara, Romania
2
University Politehnica Timisoara, Faculty of Engineering Hunedoara, Department of
Engineering & Management, Romania

E–mail: [email protected]

Abstract. Natural fibre reinforced composites are gaining interest because of its attractive
properties such as low weight, higher stiffness and low cost. Fibre reinforced composites are
lightweight, strong, and durable materials which are seeing increasing adoption in the
transportation, construction and many other markets. Therefore, sustainability in their use
phase is often a key driver for the selection of composites over traditional materials. In the
meantime, the ever–growing amount of textile wastes leads to the necessity to utilize these
waste materials and to develop further processing technologies for their beneficial application.
Due to various application possibilities and its economic impact, the valorisation of textile
wastes has attracted increasing attention. This review summarized the valorisation potential of
a textile waste products, especially of flax, hemp and jute fabrics. In this context application of
different textile wastes for development of some value added product has been thought of in
this paper.

1. Introduction
Textile waste is one type of municipal solid waste growing rapidly in recent years. Abundant textile
waste which includes the waste generated from streams of fibre, textile and clothing manufacturing
process, commercial service and consumption has raised increasing concerns worldwide in developing
novel circular textiles approach. In fact, disposal of textile waste and their management have risen
increasing global concerns in the recent years.[1–6]
In many cases, major recycling options for textile wastes include only second–hand oversea trading
and energy recovery by incineration. Moreover, the short lifecycles of apparel product due to rapid
fashion cycles and increased buying power of consumers in urban areas is resulting in significant
amounts of postconsumer textile waste in the form of used clothing or even second–hand clothing.
Post–consumer textile waste mainly originates from the household sources and consists of textiles
which the owner no longer needs as it was.[1–4] Currently, for textiles which are ripped or stained and
are no longer wearable, disposal commonly consists of landfill or incineration as there are no other
valorisation routes available. This waste is often made up of resources, which could be recycled and
used.[5–10]
In recent years the world has been involved with environmental issues related to the continuous use
of natural resources, including the textile wastes.[9–14] Therefore, several proposed solutions involve
the use of natural, renewable and recyclable materials. In this respect, the use of natural fibres and

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International Conference on Applied Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 477 (2019) 012004 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/477/1/012004

their wastes is a successful example being investigated and industrially applied since the past decade.
[1–6], [15–24]. In particular, the lingo–cellulosic fibres obtained from plants are increasingly being
considered as reinforcement of composites for engineering applications, especially in automobile
components. Therefore, applications of natural–reinforced composites (with mixture of particle, fibre
and textile structures) are expected to have a significant positive environmental impact.[5], [6], [15–
24] The availability of the technologies for producing of natural–reinforced composites and its high
socio–economic value are solid arguments in favour of the future development of this product and can
find a wide application as a substitute for non–biodegradable or non–ecological products.[5], [6], [22–
24]
Bast fibres (flax, hemp and jute), for their versatility, rightfully deserves to be branded as the
“fibres for the future”, being another natural option for a cleaner environment.[9–15] Among all the
natural fibres, bast fibres such as jute, flax, hemp, sisal and ramie appears to be a promising fibres and
constitutes large area of investigation due to its good mechanical properties compared with other
natural fibres.[16–20] Recently, cellulose fibres began to be used as a fibre–reinforcement material,
especially in conjunction with polymers in fibre–reinforced composites, due to their similar properties
to engineered fibres.[18–20]
A huge amount of these fibres is wasted and is gone to landfill every year, either in the form of
textiles resulted from manufacturing of fabrics or in the form of used cloths after the end–of–life of the
bags. In fact, bast fibres and their wastes can be used not only in its traditional materials, but also for
the production of other value–added products such as geotextiles or composites.[15–24] Concern for
the environment, both in terms of limiting the use of finite resources and the need to manage waste
disposal, has led to increasing pressure to recycle materials at the end of their useful life. As well
known, the bags at the end of their longevity will be as waste materials. Moreover the waste fabrics
are not yet reused effciently.[5], [6], [14], [15] Therefore, several attempts were carried out in our
previous research [5], [6], [23] to use the above–mentioned valuable properties of bast fibres, to reuse
the wasted textiles, to recycle the end–of–life fibre bags for fabricating valuable reinforced
textile/polymer composites or textile sandwich composites.

Figure 1. Textile packaging material as solid wastes

The textile industry needs to find imaginative solutions to produce environmental
improvements.[4–9] One of the main environmental concern in the textile industry is about the solid
wastes, coming from the packaging of raw textile material of different nature (in form of fibres, yarns
or fabrics) or paper packaging wastes (boxes, bags, cardboard), considered as non–dangerous
wastes.[5], [6], [10], [11], [15]
Recycling the waste for environmental protection has been an important challenge for the mankind.
The fibrous waste in textile industry accounts for approximately 15% of the amount of fibre products
used.[7], [8] Nearly 95% of used clothing and textiles can be reused and recycled. Any clothing,
household textile or commercial linen textile can be reused and recycled. Only items that are wet or
have been used with a solvent–type liquid cannot be recycled.[7], [8] Nearly 100% of all used clothing

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International Conference on Applied Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 477 (2019) 012004 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/477/1/012004

and household textiles can be sort and grade the used clothing based on quality, condition, and type,
re–used or recycled in one of the following manners:[7], [8]
 45 percent is re–used as apparel that are then sold to the second–hand clothing industry or are
exported to emerging market nations where demand for top quality second–hand clothing is
particularly high.
 30 percent of the recovered textiles are cut and converted into wiping rags or polishing cloths that
are then used in commercial and industrial settings.
 20 percent is reprocessed into its basic fiber content which are then remanufactured to create
furniture stuffing, home insulation, automobile sound–proofing, building materials and various
other new products.
 5 percent is unusable. If the textiles are wet or dirty, broken or contaminated with solvents they are
not fit for any recycling process and are finally discarded.
Therefore, more than 95% of all textiles can be recycled or reused in some way, only 5% is unusable
due to mildew or other contamination.[7], [8] In general, applications of re–used or recycled textile
waste belong to the following three broad categories: apparel, home furnishing, and industrial. Most of
the fibre products are for short term (e.g. disposables) to medium term (e.g. apparel, carpet,
automotive interior) use, lasting up to a few years in their service life.
The current study focused on the valorisation potential of use of packaging textile waste as
reinforcement for producing a fibre–reinforced polymer composites. This paper discusses about the
recycling possibilities of the textile wastes as reinforcements in the polymer composites and the
applications of these in different areas. At current study, recycled bags was used to fabricate
ecologically friendly composites.

2. Secondary textiles: from source to treatment

However, large textile type material lost in landfilling or incineration are unavoidable in the currently
wasteful, linear system which creates negative impacts on the environment. It is important to find
innovative solutions to valorise this waste to ensure that it does not add to the already significant
environmental impact created by textiles.[1], [6], [9–13]
Ensuring that there are markets for the secondary textiles to be processed reduces the amount of
textiles which end up deposited in landfill or simply incinerated, hence improving the “circularity” of
these valuable items. As the quality of secondary textiles decreases, the options available become of
less value, as highlighted in Figure 2. The strategy to textile waste management must give priority in
the first place the waste prevention, in the second place recycling, reusing and revalorization of
different textiles and finally their dump deposition.[10], [12]

Figure 2. The textile waste hierarchy options

Different clothing and household textiles are a complex input materials for the textile wastes recycling
process due to the variation in their composition, their quality at the point of disposal in landfills and
the existence of alternative markets for textiles which have been recovered.[1], [3], [4], [11–14]

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International Conference on Applied Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 477 (2019) 012004 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/477/1/012004

The available and most preferred options for waste textiles collected separately and sorted,
considered as high–grade scope for material recycling, are highlighted in Figure 3. The least available
options for waste textiles, separated or not at source, treated as municipal solid waste, considered as
low–grade scope for material recycling which need disposal costs, are presented in Figure 4.

Figure 3. Flow diagram of waste textiles Figure 4. Flow diagram of waste textiles
which can generate new value–added products which disposal cost required
Also, the textile industry generates a large amount of waste and the textile manufacturing is worldly
reported as the second most polluting sector and represents a complex, problematic waste stream. The
growth of textile markets not only depends on population growth but also depends on economic and
fashion cycles.[4], [9], [12–14] The fast fashion cycle in the textile industry has led to a high level of
consumption and waste generation. This can cause a negative environmental impact since the textile
manufacturing and clothing industry is one of the most polluting industries, being a chemical–
intensive process. Wastewater and fibre or fabric wastes are the major wastes generated during the
textile production process.[4], [10] On the other hand, the fibre and fabric waste was mainly created
from unwanted clothes in the textile supply chain. This waste includes natural and synthetic fibre or
fabric, and hybrid natural/synthetic blends.[6], [9], [12]

3. The recycling in practice

Concurrently, the valorisation of waste for useful materials production is a current practice, with
particular focus on environmental indicators and sustainability goals and it is part of the larger
endeavour of the circular economy (Figure 5). Outside of well–established reuse markets and
mechanical recycling processes (where capacity limits exist), there remains a large quantity of low–
value materials for which there is no market pull to utilize.
The move to a circular economy is becoming more widely discussed and adopted, largely thanks to
its benefits. A circular economy approach to textiles involves moving away from our traditional “take,
make and dispose” model and working to achieve a model whereby fibres or/and fabrics are kept in
use and at their highest value. The ability to recycle used textiles – by use waste textiles to back into
make new products – is of particular interest.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 5. From linear to a circular economy (from waste to resource) (a) linear economy;
b) reuse economy; (c) circular economy

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International Conference on Applied Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 477 (2019) 012004 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/477/1/012004

Characterizing the linear economy, the economy with feedback loops, and the circular economy
summarize the potential, and in some cases already proven, advantages of the circular economy
approach in terms of three major categories.
 the production processes in this setup require significantly less newly produced or mined raw
materials. Consequently, these processes become less sensitive to the growing need of many raw
materials;
 the circular economy has the potential to generate innovations and new employment opportunities
in the so called eco–industry, based on the development and application of eco–technology;
 the reduction of environmental damage due to less extraction of raw materials and significantly
smaller waste disposal problems.
Products which have lost their functional value generally tend to form part of material left for
recycling. Considering the impact of different measures, it appears that the greatest potential is to be
found in the development of new technology. The challenge here is to develop value adding features.
We all know what the basis of recycling is a practice that takes an item and targets it for reuse,
returning it back to the cycle of daily contribution to society rather than discarding it to trash, meaning
treat or process used or waste materials so as to make suitable for reuse, alter or adapt for new use
without changing the essential form or use again in the original form or with minimal alteration.
Therefore, any recycling process is a first step in reaching a more sustainable solution of the waste
management that can eventually limit the amount of new and virgin materials that need to be
produced. In fact, recycling is undoubtedly useful, and is a conscious means for extending the useful
lifetime of used materials. Therefore, any recycling process has simply prolonged the inevitable by
stretching out waste stream and made the lifecycle costs of the material a bit less.
The circular economy has seen a significant increase in interest over the past few years, having
several key elements as strategies, as follow:
 can prioritise the regenerative natural resources, and therefore the renewable and reusable resources
are used as raw materials in an efficient way;
 can preserve and extend what is already manufactured, and, while resources are in–use, repair and
upgrade or remanufactured them to maximise their lifetime and give them a second life through
take back strategies when applicable;
 use the existent waste as a new resource, using waste streams as a source of secondary resources
and trying to recover waste for reuse and recycling.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 6. The recycling in practice: (a) recycling; (b) upcycling; (c) downcycling
In this way, materials destined for landfills or incineration can be recycled in scope to produce
something completely different. The process where waste products are converted into a new materials
of better quality and a higher environmental value is the upcycling i.e. remaking of textile material
wastes to something new of greater value, like reinforcements in a composite materials. Upcycling
involve creative ways of reuse old materials by using different pre–consumer or post–consumer waste
or a combination of the two. In fact, the upcycling becomes dually important:
 first, the practice reduces the amount of waste that we produce and ultimately goes into the ground
for longer than any of us will be around.

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International Conference on Applied Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 477 (2019) 012004 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/477/1/012004

 secondly, it also reduces the need for virgin material to be harvested as feedstock for new
generations of product.
Upcycling represents a truly cyclical, balanced process that all industries and companies should be
aiming towards. All of products could be drastically changed if the beginning of their design started
with the goal of not having them end up in a landfill, as is been thinking in the circular economy. A
number of ways could be utilities to train the economy into an inherent practice of reuse. Upcycling
is a process that can be repeated in perpetuity of returning materials back to a pliable, usable form
without degradation to their latent value–moving resources back up the supply chain.
Upcycling is described by some as reusing a material without degrading the quality and
composition of the material for its next use. As a result, these usually become products that will
eventually also become trash. In fact, upcycling is equivalent in material terms to the “reuse” step in
the classic waste hierarchy (reduce–reuse–recycle), though rather than being direct reuse of the same
product, its reuse of the materials in an equally useful way. Therefore, upcycling is a process where
waste or useless products are converted into new materials or products of equal or better quality or a
higher environmental value. Moreover, by making use of already existing materials the consumption
of new raw materials for new products is reduced. Hence, upcycling is an even greener way of
recycling, better environmentally and cost efficiently.

4. Innovative recycling technologies for textiles – A potential solution

A potential solution is the development of innovative recycling technologies for textile materials. In
this sense, technical textiles are a field envisaged by the European strategy, and consist of textile
materials with technical applications, in fields like industry or agriculture. To improve and reach a
significant valorisation, integrated processes for proper separation, detection and classification of
textile waste from industrial and commercial packaging waste are promoted. In this sense, several
research and industrial approach suggest the proposed technical solution, as a strategy for textile waste
recovery from the disposal in landfills, with a great potential in treating textile waste and facilitating
the recovery of natural textile wastes as value–added products into natural fibre reinforced
composites.[6], [9], [15–24]
Textile wastes has gained a tremendous interest during the ten last years and will be a subject for
significant research progress in the future, working on a recycling technology to enable low–value
blended textiles to be collected, separated and processed into new raw materials as reinforcement into
composites. The emerging applications of these materials (fibre and textile recycling, focusing on the
case of natural and synthetic textile fabrics, which account for a large part of textile waste) as
reinforcements in the manufacturing of natural fibre reinforced composites is one of the valorisation
approach. The natural fibre is mostly comprised of cellulosic material, which can be used as a resource
for producing fibre–based products like composites. The main challenge for utilization of various
textile waste is finding the method that is able to recover it as reinforcements in composites. Another
interesting contribution is proposed on geo–polymers used in agriculture. This category of new high–
added value textile products comprises the properties of textile materials (light–weightiness,
flexibility, resistance) and offers adequate solutions for the specific technical purpose.
Therefore, developing markets for the lowest grade textiles can have wider benefits, including
supporting the manufacturing of natural fibre reinforced composites. Moreover, technologies of
composite materials could be a feasible solution for the textile waste valorisation and the textile wastes
consisting of natural and synthetic textile fibres or fabrics in various ratios can be used as low–cost
raw materials in high–added value products.
In recent years, there have been collaborations between brands and innovator companies, with the
overall aim of developing recycling technologies which deal with the textile waste problem. With the
increase in clothing consumption, greater amounts of textiles are being discarded, some of which
having hardly been worn. Knowledge of the markets considered as inputs (textiles wastes) and outputs
(natural fibre reinforced composites) for the recycling process has been quantified to identify the
overall opportunity, alongside technology development.

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International Conference on Applied Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 477 (2019) 012004 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/477/1/012004

5. Concluding remarks
Due to environment and sustainability issues, this century has witnessed remarkable achievements in
the composite technologies through the development of natural fibre composites. The development of
high–performance materials made from natural resources is increasing worldwide. The greatest
challenge in working with natural fibre reinforced polymer composites is their large variation in
properties and characteristics. However, with appropriate attention to fibre and resin design and
structural geometry, natural fibre composites may prove a viable alternative to traditional materials in
the future. Industrial ecology, eco–efficiency, and green chemistry are guiding the development of the
next generation of materials, products, and processes.
The current interest for natural fibres from textile wastes as an environmentally correct composite
reinforcement has motivated the investigation of new possibilities. For instance, the textile fibres from
the textile wastes were recently found to have adequate mechanical properties to reinforce polymer
composites. Most natural fibre composites, including the textile waste inserted composites, however,
are fabricated with traditional non–degradable polymer matrix but still presenting a recycling
advantage over the common glass fibre reinforced polymer composites. Therefore, textile waste
inserted composites stand out as a relevant class of engineering materials.

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International Conference on Applied Sciences IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 477 (2019) 012004 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/477/1/012004

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