Review article

Recycled cotton on the market: A review

Alenka Šalej Lah orcid.org/0000-0002-1869-806X ; University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Ljubljana, Slovenia *
Tatjana Rijavec ; University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Ljubljana, Slovenia

* Corresponding author.

Abstract

The continuous growth of population, consumer standard and fashion trends are causing the increasing need for textiles. Global textile fibres production in 2021 amounted to 113 million tons, by 2030 an increase is assessed to 134 million tons, with natural fibres share of about 22.5% in 2021. Also, expenses of textile raw materials represent a major cost for the textile industry. In recent years, the prices of textile fibres have been increasing rapidly. Cotton is the most important natural fibre, but its production is increasing very slow as it is limited with agricultural areas and yield per hectare. Its global crop in the 2020/2021 season was 24.47 million tons, that is 21.7% of global textile fibres production in 2021. Cotton is an indispensable fibre for clothing (especially underwear) and interior textiles (bed linen, towels). Cotton clothes are breathable, absorb sweat and keep you cool in a hot environment. Cotton fibre biggest advantage over synthetic fibres is its biodegradability. Because of the fast fashion cycles, fashion became a disposable fashion and due to the shorter life cycles of textiles the amount of textile waste is increasing rapidly. Cotton is one of the most common raw materials, as a result of which a significant amount of cotton textile waste is produced. Recycled cotton is mainly produced today by recycling pre-consumer wastes (unsold and damaged products), and very little from production wastes (fibres, yarns, cloth scraps, fabrics cut-offs and roll ends) or post-consumer wastes like used clothes and interior textiles that are discarded because they are worn and damaged. The article provides an overview of modern strategies for recycling cotton waste into products with added value and the current offer of recycled cotton textiles for apparel and interior decoration.

Keywords

sustainability; textile recycling; quality assessment; textile waste; fast fashion

Hrčak ID:

334987

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/334987

Publication date:

21.5.2025.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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