The Importance of Textile Recycling

The process involves collecting clothing donations, sorting, processing, and transporting used-clothes to second-hand clothing markets or to waste recycling plants.

The textile industry isn’t just limited to clothing; it consists of furniture, upholstery, mattress, cleaning materials, draperies as well as leisure equipment.

The Need to Recycle Textiles

According to statistics, there are about 80-100 billion textiles produced every year. Studies show that over 15 million tons of textile waste are thrown into landfills every year. Because many of the fabrics used today are made of the same polymers as plastic, most of the textile waste we produce sits in landfills for many decades—some of it can take more than 200 years to fully decompose!                                                                                           

Recycling textiles is a huge challenge; if we continue to produce and throw out textiles at this rate, we’re going to do irreversible damage to the environment.

The Textile Recycling Process

Some environmentalists have argued that we move to a zero-textile waste policy, which involves recycling all discarded textiles. Unfortunately, implementing such a policy is an incredibly complex problem.

Recycling textiles involves going through all of them and sorting them into categories. Clothing of better quality is sold to the second-hand clothing industry and the rest is separated based on their materials and converted into either new products or wiping and cleaning cloths.  

How Recycling Textiles Helps the Environment

Recycling textiles benefits the environment in multiple ways:

• It reduces the requirement for additional landfill space
• It reduces the number of synthetic fibers that release greenhouse gases into the air as they decompose
• Lessens the amount of wastewater produced.
• Reduces pollution
• Reduces use of toxic dyes

Wiping and Cleaning Cloths

Clothing that is categorized as unwearable, is given to textile recycling companies that convert them into wiping and polishing cloths that are made for industrial, commercial and residential use.

Most of these clothes are made using cotton t-shirts because they have natural absorbent properties that make them excellent for cleaning up spills, which is why they have a high demand in the oil industry.

E’Co Wipes is a textile recycling company based in Australia. It specializes in recycling worn-out cotton textiles and converting them into high-quality rag wipers. Each one of their cleaning and polishing cloths is absorbent and made of durable materials. These cloths are made for mechanics, engineers, marine industries, cleaning companies and more.  

Check out their products online and contact them for more information.