Fiber Recovery from End-of-Life Apparel

Apparel industry is handling large quantities of fibers having consumed a significant portion of energy and resources. Although in Europe a separate collection of end-of-life apparel is well established, a certain amount of collected textiles remains as waste. An improvement in fiber recycling technology could further increase the recovery rate and bring ecological benefit. A research project is currently being carried out to significantly increase the portion of fibers recovered and reused to help avoid unnecessary waste. On the one hand, improvement will increase the overall economic benefit of apparel collection. On the other hand, the reuse of fibers can save energy and resources.