Recycling Practices of  Pre-Consumer Waste Generated from Textile Industry

Recycling is imperative in sustainable manufacturing. The solid waste generated from the manufacturing of textiles and fashion is mostly recyclable. Hence, recycling textile solid waste (textile-to-textile recycling) is essential to sustainable manufacturing. If appropriately managed, both pre-consumer and post-consumer textile waste can be recycled and re-fed into the textile manufacturing systems. However, managing textile solid waste (i.e., collection, sorting, and separating) is a complex and inefficient process due to the high diversity of textile materials. Mono-fiber materials (like 100% cotton or 100% polyester) can be recycled to their fiber form and reused as raw materials for manufacturing. Technological and scaling-up challenges still prevail for multifiber materials. This chapter represents three case studies of textile recycling practices in Bangladesh, which is the second-largest manufacturer of textiles and fashion products. In subsequent processes, pre-consumer textile waste is transformed into recycled fiber and recycled yarn. Insights from the recycling plants reveal the technological and commercial challenges in textile recycling. This chapter also describes how textile waste recycling can facilitate circularity in the textile supply chain. This knowledge can help a better understanding of sustainable manufacturing of textiles and fashion and facilitate the development of technology, policy, and frameworks for a circular economy.