Problems such as depletion of natural resources brought about by industrialization and increase of environmental pollution gained importance in recycling concept. After the petroleum industry, the second largest textile industry in the world, creating the most pollution in the field of recycling work has been accelerating gradually. Textile wastes; it consists of wastes from artificial yarn factories, textile manufacturing wastes and consumer wastes. Organizations that seek to provide solutions in the global context for the textile and apparel industry are carrying out studies on the re-use and recovery of textile wastes.
Insulation Material Produced
Together with the great importance of the re-evaluation of clothing, nearly 100 percent of textile products are being recycled. For example; denim products can contain up to 20 percent recycled cotton fibers. More technological innovation is needed to increase this ratio without compromising from quality. In the recycling of denim products, un-used denim products are broken down into fibers. Most of the obtained fibers are used as insulation material, while the remaining part is mixed with un-used fibers to produce new fabrics.
Contribution to Reducing Carbon Footprint
Recycling facilities are needed to use garments for recycling. If 500 tons or more of textiles can be collected per day, a recycling facility can be established. Thanks to the recycling of waste; natural resources are conserved, energy saving is achieved, waste amount is decreased, economy is concentrated and investment is made for the future. To produce a simple T-shirt and jeans, 8 tons or more of water is consumed. At the same time, unpredictable chemical materials usage and energy are used to transform the fabrics into clothes. Conventional cotton or fabric dyes used to create colorful garments also emit a large amount of chemicals. The recovery of this surplus of water and energy must begin by adding un-used clothing to the re-production cycle.
The carbon footprint shows the amount of carbon per person released into the environment as the clothes are brought back into the production cycle. Thus, nature is contributed. Behaviors such as walking or cycling instead of driving, using public transport instead of private vehicles, recycling old clothes help to reduce the carbon footprint. By re-introducing a single pair of jeans to production, it helps to reuse 32 kg of carbon and 400 MJ of energy into production, thus keeping the process steady instead of increasing the amount of carbon released into the air.
