Recycling of Mixed Post-Consumer Textiles: Opportunities for Sustainable Product Development
The Waste Framework Directive mandates that, starting from January 1, 2025, separate collection of textiles must be introduced in all Member States of the European Union. The aim of separate collection is to promote the circular economy in the textile system by creating favorable conditions for recy...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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2025-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental and Climate Technologies |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/rtuect-2025-0023 |
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| author | Valtere Megija Bezrucko Tereza Liberova Veronika Blumberga Dagnija |
| author_facet | Valtere Megija Bezrucko Tereza Liberova Veronika Blumberga Dagnija |
| author_sort | Valtere Megija |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Waste Framework Directive mandates that, starting from January 1, 2025, separate collection of textiles must be introduced in all Member States of the European Union. The aim of separate collection is to promote the circular economy in the textile system by creating favorable conditions for recycling and reuse. However, in order to promote recycling, there are still challenges in terms of textile variety and mixtures. Currently, there are no commercially viable technologies to recycle mixed textiles without sorting back into textiles or high value-added products. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if there are products in the research process that could be obtained from post-consumer mixed textile waste and, if so, to assess which is the most suitable for further development based on economic, environmental, social and technical factors. Two methods were applied: literature analysis and multi-criteria decision analysis. A total of 27 research articles were identified, but only four were selected for further analysis based on their relevance to the research objective. The products obtained in the selected studies were (1) bio-oil and terephthalic acid, (2) textile-reinforced composite for building applications, (3) mycelium-based composite for thermal insulation and (4) textile fibers (cotton and nylon), spandex monomers and bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate. The multi-criteria decision analysis showed that mycelium-based composite has the highest potential for further development. Future research should focus on scaling up the production of mycelium-based material and conducting a more detailed assessment of the economic, social and environmental impacts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-36a5b5420577439785a314f178c4b7b0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2255-8837 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
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| series | Environmental and Climate Technologies |
| spelling | doaj-art-36a5b5420577439785a314f178c4b7b02025-08-25T06:12:10ZengSciendoEnvironmental and Climate Technologies2255-88372025-01-0129132334310.2478/rtuect-2025-0023Recycling of Mixed Post-Consumer Textiles: Opportunities for Sustainable Product DevelopmentValtere Megija0Bezrucko Tereza1Liberova Veronika2Blumberga Dagnija3Institute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University, Azenes iela 12/1, LV-1048Riga, LatviaInstitute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University, Azenes iela 12/1, LV-1048Riga, LatviaInstitute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University, Azenes iela 12/1, LV-1048Riga, LatviaInstitute of Energy Systems and Environment, Riga Technical University, Azenes iela 12/1, LV-1048Riga, LatviaThe Waste Framework Directive mandates that, starting from January 1, 2025, separate collection of textiles must be introduced in all Member States of the European Union. The aim of separate collection is to promote the circular economy in the textile system by creating favorable conditions for recycling and reuse. However, in order to promote recycling, there are still challenges in terms of textile variety and mixtures. Currently, there are no commercially viable technologies to recycle mixed textiles without sorting back into textiles or high value-added products. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if there are products in the research process that could be obtained from post-consumer mixed textile waste and, if so, to assess which is the most suitable for further development based on economic, environmental, social and technical factors. Two methods were applied: literature analysis and multi-criteria decision analysis. A total of 27 research articles were identified, but only four were selected for further analysis based on their relevance to the research objective. The products obtained in the selected studies were (1) bio-oil and terephthalic acid, (2) textile-reinforced composite for building applications, (3) mycelium-based composite for thermal insulation and (4) textile fibers (cotton and nylon), spandex monomers and bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate. The multi-criteria decision analysis showed that mycelium-based composite has the highest potential for further development. Future research should focus on scaling up the production of mycelium-based material and conducting a more detailed assessment of the economic, social and environmental impacts.https://doi.org/10.2478/rtuect-2025-0023circular economymulti-criteria decision analysis (mcda)mycelium-based materialsustainable development goals (sdgs)value-added products |
| spellingShingle | Valtere Megija Bezrucko Tereza Liberova Veronika Blumberga Dagnija Recycling of Mixed Post-Consumer Textiles: Opportunities for Sustainable Product Development Environmental and Climate Technologies circular economy multi-criteria decision analysis (mcda) mycelium-based material sustainable development goals (sdgs) value-added products |
| title | Recycling of Mixed Post-Consumer Textiles: Opportunities for Sustainable Product Development |
| title_full | Recycling of Mixed Post-Consumer Textiles: Opportunities for Sustainable Product Development |
| title_fullStr | Recycling of Mixed Post-Consumer Textiles: Opportunities for Sustainable Product Development |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recycling of Mixed Post-Consumer Textiles: Opportunities for Sustainable Product Development |
| title_short | Recycling of Mixed Post-Consumer Textiles: Opportunities for Sustainable Product Development |
| title_sort | recycling of mixed post consumer textiles opportunities for sustainable product development |
| topic | circular economy multi-criteria decision analysis (mcda) mycelium-based material sustainable development goals (sdgs) value-added products |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/rtuect-2025-0023 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT valteremegija recyclingofmixedpostconsumertextilesopportunitiesforsustainableproductdevelopment AT bezruckotereza recyclingofmixedpostconsumertextilesopportunitiesforsustainableproductdevelopment AT liberovaveronika recyclingofmixedpostconsumertextilesopportunitiesforsustainableproductdevelopment AT blumbergadagnija recyclingofmixedpostconsumertextilesopportunitiesforsustainableproductdevelopment |