Textile Waste Fiber Regeneration via a Green Chemistry Approach: A Molecular Strategy for Sustainable Fashion

Abstract

Fast fashion, as a continuously growing part of the textile industry, is widely criticized for its excessive resource use and high generation of textiles. To reduce its environmental impacts, numerous efforts are focused on finding sustainable and eco‐friendly approaches to textile recycling. However, waste textiles and fibers are still mainly disposed of in landfills or by incineration after their service life and thereby pollute the natural environment, as there is still no effective strategy to separate natural fibers from chemical fibers. Herein, a green chemistry strategy is developed for the separation and regeneration of waste textiles at the molecular level. Cellulose/wool keratin composite fibers and multicomponent fibers are regenerated from waste textiles via a green chemical process. The strategy attempts to reduce the large amount of waste textiles generated by the fast‐developing fashion industry and provide a new source of fibers, which can also address the fossil fuel reserve shortages caused by chemical fiber industries and global food shortages caused by natural fiber production.

Limitations of Textile Recycling: The Reason behind the Development of Alternative Sustainable Fibers

“…An assessment can be made on the basis of fiber source for recycling limits. Based on the disadvantages, such as shortening or shredding the fibers created the fibers by each recycling cycle, it is stated in the literature that an average of 8 recycling cycles for synthetic fibers and an average of 5 cycles for natural fibers can be actualized [56,57]. While the recyclability limits are more evident in natural fibers, the same rule is not valid for the fibers formed from thermoplastic polymers.…”

The sustainability of phytomass-derived materials: thermodynamical aspects, life cycle analysis and research perspectives

“…Researchers also explore textile recycling and the separation of polyester blended fabrics by selective dissolution of cellulose or wool using ionic liquids, or by selective degradation with keratinases to separate wool from polyester. 199,[201][202][203] These approaches have the advantage of dealing with biodegradable/non-biodegradable blends. These blends could otherwise not be recycled as textiles.…”

“…105,179 In this context, it is important to prioritize, in descending order, actual textile use (30% of garments are not even sold or worn), durability, reuse and recycling. 105,132,186,199 Incineration and landfill are not desirable and reuse is relevant only if the environmental cost of it (advertising, internet sale, transportation, etc .) does not exceed the cost of production and distribution of equivalent garments.…”

Recycled fibers from pre- and post-consumer textile waste as blend constituents in manufacturing 100% cotton yarns in ring spinning: A sustainable and eco-friendly approach

“…spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing, finishing, garment manufacturing and even at the consumer end ( Jamshaid et al., 2021 ). In addition, with rapid growth and evolution in fashion trends along with the fast throwaway culture of the new generation, textile production and waste generation rates have increased substantially over the last decades ( Ütebay et al., 2019 ; Sun et al., 2021 ; Rahman et al., 2022 ). Globally, around 87% of total discarded textiles, of which around 90% are reusable and recyclable, ended up through landfill or incineration creating a serious environmental threat ( Moazzem et al., 2021 ).…”