An official website of the United States government
The negative environmental impacts of the current linear system of textile and apparel production are well-documented and require urgent action. The sector lacks an effective recycling system, resulting in massive waste and environmental pollution. This paper presents the results of qualitative research involving textile and apparel industry stakeholders, including representatives from brands and retailers, waste collectors, recyclers, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, and government agencies. Our research focused on stakeholder perceptions of the significance and importance of textile circularity, the challenges that exist for transitioning the textile and apparel industry from a linear system to a circular economy (CE), and resources that exist to support this transition. The results of this study call attention to the following urgent requirements: a consistent definition of CE to promote transparency and accountability and prevent greenwashing; improved systems for materials identification, sorting, and pre-processing of post-consumer textile waste to enable recycling; innovations in mechanical recycling technologies to maintain the value of recycled materials; and new, materials-driven approaches to design and manufacturing that are responsive to feedstock variability and diverse consumer needs. The research findings also suggest the need for flexible, regional CEs that are rooted in community partnerships.
more »
« less
This content will become publicly available on February 5, 2026
ReSpool : Scaling a circular supply chain for recycled textiles
Abstract ReSpool is a transdisciplinary partnership among academia, government, industry, and nonprofit entities created in 2022 to develop and demonstrate a transferable model for the recycling of postconsumer textile and apparel waste into new textile products. ReSpool's engineering and creative teams have innovated proprietary technologies including the Fiber Shredder, which enables textile‐to‐fiber shredding for high‐value applications, and a set of processes for the manufacture of yarns and nonwoven textiles from recycled fibers. ReSpool's circular supply chains begin with discarded clothing collected by Goodwill organizations in the two test regions and involves partnerships with Goodwill to recruit and train workers and install in‐house recycling operations. ReSpool then works with textile manufacturers and home goods and apparel retailers on high‐value applications through waste‐led materials and product development. ReSpool takes a systems‐based approach to sustainability research and problem‐solving. This article briefly overviews the “systems thinking” framework and demonstrates how core principles of this framework structure the team's objectives, activities, and innovations. Finally, the article contributes to current debates regarding systems thinking and circularity by presenting a rationale for systems‐based sustainability research and practice ratcheted to regional systems. By focusing on regional factors, connections, and opportunities, ReSpool aims to maximize its flexibility, relevance, and impact while enabling tailored replication of the model across diverse communities. In this way, ReSpool offers an innovative, circular materials model for the textile and apparel industries, turning textile waste into a source of business innovation, sustainable economic development, and skills training for communities across the country.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2236100
- PAR ID:
- 10570392
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Advanced Manufacturing and Processing
- Volume:
- 7
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2637-403X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Due to the increasing speed of production, sale, and discard of home and apparel products, recycling of textiles is important for supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal of Responsible Consumption and Production. In 2020, textile production was estimated to be responsible for 35% of primary microplastics released into the environment, 20% of global clean water pollution, and 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2018 the US generated around 17 million tons of textile waste and only 14.7% was recycled. Drum-operated textile shredding, a commonly utilized mechanical textile recycling technique, is not yet fully characterized. Even though there are many shredding machines that perform this process, the parameters that influence high-quality fiber output have not been researched; discovering ways to improve reusable fiber output is still a challenge. This research investigates the theory behind carded (toothed) drum textile shredding including how to improve the process outcome in order to obtain more reusable fiber and fewer textile pieces and dust. The mechanics of the textiles and fibers under tensile and shear stresses from the drums and drum teeth respectively were described to relate the textile material failure behavior to shredding process fiber outputs. Focusing on the interactions of the feeding drums and shredding drum, the drum-textile and tooth-yarn failure mechanics were characterized. By decreasing the teeth size and increasing the relative speed between drums, it is expected to increase the shear failure ratio, thus improving the shredding system. With this, it is expected that manufacturing new and better materials from recycled fibers becomes a possibility.more » « less
-
As rates of textile manufacturing and disposal escalate, the ramifications to health and the environment through water pollution, microplastic contaminant concentrations, and greenhouse gas emissions increases. Discarding over 15.4 million tons of textiles each year, the U.S. recycles less than 15%, sending the remainder to landfills and incinerators. Textile reuse is not sufficient to de-escalate the situation; recycling is necessary. Most textile recycling technologies from past decades are expensive, create low quality outputs, or are not industry scalable. For viability, textile recycling system designs must evolve with the rapid pace of a dynamic textile and fashion industry. For any design to be sustainable, it must also be flexible to adapt with technological, user, societal, and environmental condition advances. To this end flexible and sustainable design principles were compared: overlapping principles were combined and missing principles were added to create twelve overarching sustainable, flexible design principles (DfSFlex). The Fiber Shredder was designed and built with flexibility and sustainability as its goal and evaluated on how well it met DfSFlex principles. An evaluation of the Fiber Shredder's performance found that increased speed and processing time increases the generation of the desired output - fibers and yarns, manifesting the principles of Design for Separation in design and Facilitate Resource Recovery in processing. The development of this technology, with the application of sustainable and flexible design, fiber-to-fiber recycling using mechanical systems appears promising for maintaining value while repurposing textiles.more » « less
-
The growing textile industry is polluting the environment and producing waste at an alarming rate. The wasteful consumption of fast fashion has made the problem worse. The waste management of textiles has been ineffective. Spurred by the urgency of reducing the environmental footprint of textiles, this review examines advances and challenges to separate important textile constituents such as cotton (which is mostly cellulose), polyester (polyethylene terephthalate), and elastane, also known as spandex (polyurethane), from blended textiles. Once separated, the individual fiber types can meet the demand for sustainable strategies in textile recycling. The concepts of mechanical, chemical, and biological recycling of textiles are introduced first. Blended or mixed textiles pose challenges for mechanical recycling which cannot separate fibers from the blend. However, the separation of fiber blends can be achieved by molecular recycling, i.e., selectively dissolving or depolymerizing specific polymers in the blend. Specifically, the separation of cotton and polyester through dissolution, acidic hydrolysis, acid-catalyzed hydrothermal treatment, and enzymatic hydrolysis is discussed here, followed by the separation of elastane from other fibers by selective degradation or dissolution of elastane. The information synthesized and analyzed in this review can assist stakeholders in the textile and waste management sectors in mapping out strategies for achieving sustainable practices and promoting the shift towards a circular economy.more » « less
-
Abstract While various plastic waste management practices are demonstrated to result in materials with similar properties, morphological features of plastic waste are often lost after recycling/upcycling. Particularly, synthetic textiles are a severely underutilized waste stream that contains built‐in value stemming from their woven architectures. This work demonstrates a simple upcycling strategy to convert polypropylene‐based (PP) woven fabrics to carbon fiber mats through direct pyrolysis for direct use in various end applications without need of additional processing steps, distinct from prior works converting plastic waste to carbon‐based additives. The retention of material properties and architectures, taking advantage of the inherent value with initial product manufacturing, is investigated, with optimal conditions resulting in consistent high carbon yields. Moreover, the textile‐derived carbon shows exceptional Joule heating performance, which can be employed in various heating applications, resulting in reduced energy consumption compared to conventional heating. Furthermore, decoration of fabric‐derived carbon with metal nanoparticles is demonstrated through electroplating, leading to altered surface functionality and further enhanced Joule heating performance. This work introduces a scalable method for upcycling of plastic waste to functional carbons that can completely retain initial material architectures with controlled shrinkage, providing a viable strategy for generating value‐added products toward electrification of heating processes.more » « less
