#textile recycling

[shapeshiftersvt]

[saltedsnailstudio]

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Jasper Alexander

linocut print on recycled fabric, hand sewn using upholstery sample, felt, and second hand notions

[bumblebeeappletree]

Every year, nearly 100 billion items of clothing are produced – and 65% of them end up in a landfill within 12 months. New technologies in textile recycling may be able to curb that waste – while producing a host of sustainable materials.

#planeta #recycling #fastfashion #circulareconomy #textileindustry

We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.

Follow Planet A on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dw_planeta?la...

Credits:

Report: Dave Braneck

Video Editor: Frederik Willmann

Supervising Editor: Michael Trobridge

Fact Check: Alexander Paquet

Thumbnail: Ém Chabridon

Read More:

McKinsey - Scaling Textile Recycling in Europe

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/r...

NY Times - Will We Ever Be Able to Recycle Our Clothes Like an Aluminum Can?

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/30/st...

EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles https://environment.ec.europa.eu/stra...

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:46 Textile waste's global impact

02:47 How do you actually recycle clothes?

03:50 New approaches to textile recycling

07:41 What else needs solving?

11:41 Can we even recycle all the clothes we make?

[earaercircular]

Designer Tomhiro Kishida opts for very slow fashion: 'I have made ten pieces in 4.5 years'

Why would you go to a store? Wouldn't it be better to make your own fabrics? And while you're at it, sow what you need yourself? When Japanese designer Tomohiro Kishida started thinking about the core of fashion, he found himself in his grandfather's field. He grows the cotton for his very slow fashion, according to the rhythm of nature, not the fashion seasons.

How did you actually end up in fashion?

���I started studying architecture because I wanted to make beautiful things. I soon felt that I wanted to design on a more human scale and started studying ergonomics. The plan was to become a furniture maker. But during an internship I noticed that I don't have much of a feeling for furniture either.

I felt lost. I was able to work as an engineer at Panasonic. That may sound banal in the West, but they conduct progressive research. However, I became increasingly aware of how such a company is driven by economic interests. I wanted to put my soul into my work and came to the conclusion that I would only find peace of mind in manual work. And so I enrolled in the Osaka Institute of Fashion[1].”

There are also other disciplines for crafts. Why did you choose clothing?

'In most disciplines you are forced to work together with others and you cannot actually do what you want. I wanted to be self-centred. (laughs) Fashion is a freer discipline, in which you can easily experiment. Moreover, if a fashion project fails, no one gets hurt. That is different with architecture.'

At the fashion academy you discovered sakiori, an ancient Japanese weaving technique. What is that exactly?

'Sakiori[2] consists of two words: saki and ori. The first means pulling, the second weaving. It is a technique that is at least three hundred years old, in which you tear worn-out pieces of fabric into thin strips and weave them into new clothing.'[3]

'I discovered it rather by chance. Students make their assignments from simple white cotton. When the task is completed, everything is thrown away. I thought it was a shame, because we were producing waste all the time. So I started with sakiori to give that mountain of fabric value again. Originally, sakiori was used because there was a textile shortage. Now I use it to address an opposite problem.'

Is it a difficult technique?

'Technically not, but it does take a lot of time and patience. Mentally speaking, it is difficult for people today. Sakiori is almost meditative work. I think it is a luxury to spend my time in this way.'

Sakiori is recycling. You also grow your own cotton and then use it to make clothes. Why did you start that?

'That idea also originated at fashion school. The teachers advised us to look for good materials. Once again I wanted to question that logic. Why go to a store? Can't I make fabric myself? And so I bought a loom. But then I thought: why do I buy yarn instead of making it myself? That's how I started planting cotton myself.' (laughs)

How did you approach that? Just buy a field and start farming?

'I was lucky. My grandfather is a winegrower and has a vineyard close to Osaka. He is now too old to farm anymore. I now grow cotton in a part of his field. In this way I not only return to the roots of fashion, but also to those of my family. My father, who is a dental technician, comes to help me from time to time. He grew up in those fields and enjoys them.”

Can you briefly describe the process, from seed to thread?

'Everything starts in May with sowing. I harvest in October or November. Then I remove the seeds from the cotton balls — quite a job. The next steps are carding (untangling the fibres, ed.), spinning the yarn and boiling the yarn. Then I weave.”

In fashion we always talk in terms of seasons. You choose the seasons of a farmer.

'Indeed. Fashion essentially implies “trend”. As a result, we also view clothing with those eyes: as something that is relevant for a certain time. I am looking for a different meaning, one that is healthier for nature and for our peace of mind.”

Why do you do everything by hand?

'If a factory made my clothes, the meaning would be lost to me. Repetitive hand movements really fascinate me. It is part of the Japanese concept of shosa[4]: the beauty of the perfectly efficient, repeated action. You can also find this in the tea ceremony, for example. In the West you undoubtedly have better techniques, but in Japan shosa is an important element.'

Considering you do everything by hand, how many pieces do you produce per year?

'As for sakiori: about forty a year. With the cotton project I made ten pieces in 4.5 years.' (laughs) That is very slow fashion.

'And because I keep everything in my own hands, I now think that I should also do the sales myself. In the current production model, each task is highly divided. Because everyone has very limited responsibility for the end product, you get the problems that arise today. The entire chain produces clothes without paying attention to the consequences before and after the sale. I want to take all responsibility.”

You are to fashion what a monk is to religion: an extremely pure example to others. Do you also view it that way?

“Maybe I am. I rather see myself as experimental. I try things that most people think will not succeed.'

Next month you will move from Osaka City to the farm. Why?

“Part of me wants to stay in Osaka and part of me wants to leave. I don't have a good answer for it. I especially want to concentrate on the cotton project. I want to be able to deliver one piece a month and make a living from it. That would be great.'

WHO IS TOMOHIRO KISHIDA?

Japanese designer Tomohiro Kishida ('Tomo' for short) first studied architecture and then ergonomics. He worked as an engineer at Panasonic, but then the itch started: he wanted to create with his own hands. He enrolled in a fashion course and since 2018 he has been making his clothing line entirely by hand. On the one hand, he uses sakiori, a traditional Japanese way of recycling cotton. On the other hand, he weaves clothes from the cotton that he grows in his grandfather's field.

Source

Ringo Gomez-Jorge, Ontwerper Tomohiro Kishida kiest voor very slow fashion: ‘Ik heb op 4,5 jaar tijd tien stukken gemaakt’, in DS Magazine, 1/10,2023, https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20230927_93766767

[1] Although the level of skill of Japan's apparel industry is among the top in the world, unique ideas and designs did not blossom in Japan. We believe the ability to "generate ideas and design" is essential for winning the international race. The tutors at Osaka Institute of Fashion (OIF) have themselves studied repeatedly at fashion schools in Italy, the U.K. and the U.S., mastered ways to teach 'inspiration method and design expression', and established the program to relay their experiences to Japanese students. https://www.graduatefashionweek.com/universities/osaka-institute-of-fashion

[2] Beginning in the 18th century, Japanese farm women, during seasonal cold periods in Northern Japan, used a home loom to weave scraps of old fabrics into sakiori textiles. These hardy women would turn their woven lengths of rather narrow sakiori weavings (5 ~ 14 inches wide) into utilitarian household textiles like rugs, kotatsu (heated table) covers and practical garments like warm work jackets, vests and informal kimono obi. Although indigo was the most common color, often these domestically made sakiori textiles, especially the obi and rugs, included very colorful designs because of mixing into the weave random varieties of old brightly dyed fabrics that had been specifically set aside for making sakiori. The Japanese word sakiori comes from "saki," which means to tear or rip up, and "ori," which means weave. "Saki" relates to preparing the fabric by striping it into pieces and "ori" refers to weaving it together. The process is the same as in American & European rag weaving. With Japanese sakiori, torn cloth pieces are rolled into 13 to 16 inch lengths and loomed together in weft (width) rows and using cotton or hemp (rare) as the warp yarn. (length). Recycling such old fabric remnants into sakiori weavings follows the Japanese indispensable concept of “mottainai” or not wasting precious cloth when one can prolong the fabric’s useful life through recycling and reuse. https://www.kimonoboy.com/sakiori.html

[3] https://koromo-sakioritamura.jimdofree.com/english/

[4] 所作 (Shosa)

[tendaderetalhos]

Banjo case, sewed with upcycled fabric scraps, leftovers donated by upholstery's, textile factory´s and fashion ateliers at Curitiba City, Brazil. Small business supporting small business in a circular chain

[samiyatex]

How Samiyatex is Leading the Way in Textile Recycling and Sustainability

The fashion industry is facing a growing crisis: textile waste. Each year, over 92 million tons of clothing end up in landfills, contributing to pollution and environmental degradation. Samiyatex is on a mission to change that. As a leader in textile recycling and second-hand clothing distribution, Samiyatex plays a pivotal role in reducing waste, supporting sustainability, and promoting a circular economy.

Who is Samiyatex?

Samiyatex is more than just a second-hand clothing distributor—it’s a company dedicated to making a positive environmental and social impact. With decades of experience in the industry, Samiyatex focuses on:

Textile Recycling: Reducing landfill waste by giving old clothes a new purpose.

Second-Hand Clothing Distribution: Providing high-quality, pre-loved clothing to businesses and communities worldwide.

Sustainability Advocacy: Encouraging eco-friendly practices and supporting the circular economy.

Whether you're a thrift store owner looking for affordable, high-quality inventory or an individual committed to reducing your environmental footprint, Samiyatex offers solutions that align with your values.

Be Part of the Change

Samiyatex is leading the charge in transforming how we think about clothing and waste. With their innovative approach to textile recycling and second-hand clothing distribution, they’re helping businesses and individuals make sustainable choices that matter.

Ready to make a difference? Visit Samiyatex.com to learn more about their services and join the movement for a better tomorrow.

[swan-energy]

Textile Recycling: Transforming the Industry for Sustainability

Discover how textile recycling offers a sustainable solution to the environmental challenges facing the textile industry. Learn about innovative approaches, investment trends, and the potential for circularity to mitigate pollution and drive economic growth.

Accounting for a remarkable 2% of the world's GDP and employing millions worldwide, these sectors are integral to global development.

Yet, their operations contribute substantially to pollution, with alarming statistics highlighting their adverse effects on the environment. It produces 21 billion tonnes of trash, of which 20% is dye house wastewater effluent, 22 million tonnes of microfibres, and more than 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Read more...

[limitlessrecycling]

Textile Recycling Unveiled: Transforming Fabrics into a Sustainable Future

Textile recycling is a process that is often overlooked, but it has the potential to create a sustainable future. Fabric recycling is the process of reclaiming used or unwanted textiles and converting them into new materials or products. We can save resources, lessen the quantity of waste in landfills, and contribute to developing a more sustainable future by recycling textiles.

Introducing Textile Recycling Services What is it and why is it important?

Regarding textile recycling, there are many services to choose from. So, what is textile recycling, and why is it important?

Textile recycling is the process of recovering usable materials from used textiles. Recycled textiles can make new clothing, furniture, and other household items.

The importance of textile recycling cannot be overstated. Every year, Americans generate more than 10 million tons of textile waste. That's the equivalent of filling 1,600 Olympic-sized swimming pools!

Textile recycling is one of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce this waste. By recycling your old clothes, you can help keep them out of our landfills and conserve precious resources.

There are many options if you're looking for a textile recycling service. Just be sure to do your research to find one that's reputable and reliable.

The benefits of Textile Recycle: What are they and how can they be realized?

There are many benefits to recycling textiles. Some of these benefits are environmental, while others are economic.

The environmental benefits of recycling textiles are considerable. Recycling eliminates the need to produce new textiles from virgin materials, which reduces the amount of energy used and the amount of pollution created. Additionally, it lessens the quantity of waste that is dumped in landfills.

The economic benefits of recycling textiles are also significant. Recycling textiles saves money on raw materials and creates jobs in the recycling and textile industries. It also helps to reduce the amount of clothing that ends up in landfills, which saves municipalities money on waste disposal.

How to Textile Recycling Melbourne: The various methods and options available.

There are several ways to recycle textile materials in Melbourne. You can drop off clothes and other textiles at a local donation center or take them to a recycling plant. Several specialized textile recycling companies will turn your old clothes into new products.

If you want to recycle clothes and other textiles, the best way to do it depends on how much stuff you have to dispose of. If you have a small number of clothes and other textiles, you can take them to a local donation center. There are several of these centers in Melbourne, and most will accept clothes, bedding, towels, and other textiles.

If you have more textiles to recycle, you can take them to a recycling plant. There are a few of these plants in Melbourne, and they will recycle clothes, bedding, towels, and other textiles. They will also recycle carpets and rugs.

If you want to recycle clothes and other textiles and don't want to take them to a donation center or a recycling plant, there are a number of specialized textile recycling companies in Melbourne. These companies will take your old clothes and turn them into new products.

The future of textile recycling: What lies ahead, and how can we improve it?

Textile recycling is becoming an increasingly important part of the waste management landscape. There are many reasons for this, but chief among them is the fact that textiles are among the most commonly recycled materials.

This is good news, as recycling our clothes and other textiles can significantly reduce the amount of waste we produce. However, we can still do more to make textile recycling even better.

Here are some of the challenges we face when it comes to textile recycling, as well as some ideas for how we can overcome them:

1. Lack of awareness about textile recycling.

One of the biggest challenges we face regarding textile recycling is a lack of awareness. Many people don't know they can recycle their clothes and other textiles.

This is a problem that can be tackled through education and outreach. Increasing awareness about the benefits of textile recycling can help spur more people to recycle their clothes.

Lack of access to recycling facilities.

Another challenge we face is the lack of access to recycling facilities. Not everyone lives close to a facility that accepts textiles for recycling.

This can be addressed by expanding the number of recycling facilities available and working to make it easier for people to recycle textiles. For example, by setting up collection points in convenient locations.

Lack of awareness about the environmental benefits of textile recycling.

A third challenge we face is that many people are unaware of the environmental benefits of textile recycling. Many people think it's not worth recycling their clothes because the benefits are insignificant.

[100dayproductivity]

5/100 redux.

The previous post doesn't really count because I didn't accomplish anything productive (point of this blog) so we're doing 5/100 again.

Today there's a local recycling/upcycling event happening and I'm supposed to take advantage of it to get rid of stuff but I'm already a half hour late!!!

The first thing I wanted to do was to see if the textile recycling people are there again this year. Last year they got so many donations they stopped taking stuff before the event was over! They refused to take my stuff! I've been hanging on to a bag of rags since then. Hoping to get rid of them this year. If all I accomplish today is to get unsaleable, undonateable, unsewable, unuseable textiles out of my house then I will consider it a successful day.

First I need to get dressed and stuff!

[attheideality]

Evolving in Style: Supporting Zero Waste Fashion the Practical Way

[saltedsnailstudio]

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Jasper Alexander

linocut print on recycled fabric, hand sewn using upholstery sample, felt, and second hand notions

[ihavenomouthandimustyap]

Idea: sew some cute little moths with scrap fabrics and sew them on holes you have on your clothes so you can keep wearing them :)

[earaercircular]

Lyocell, milk fibre and pineapple leather: New textile fibres advertise sustainability. Few can keep their promises

Initiatives are many, the textile industry is in a frenetic state

Polyester causes microplastics, and the natural fibre cotton also has environmental damage in its luggage. No wonder some manufacturers are looking for alternatives. But they can at best be part of the solution.

When someone buries his/her underpants in the garden, it's not necessarily a sign of outlandish or disturbing preferences. It can also be just a slightly more entertaining test of soil quality, which the University of Zurich has even used scientifically. However, most of our clothes would probably emerge from the earth relatively unchanged after a few months, even if the soil in question contains enough beneficial organisms. Because most of our clothes are not biodegradable in the environment - often not even those made of supposedly more sustainable fibres.

“First of all, you have to differentiate between natural fibres that grow on bushes, stalks or trees and are already in fibre form, and man-made fibres,” says Anett Matthäi, who works on sustainable textiles at the engineering faculty of the Hof University of Applied Sciences[1] in Bavaria.

Up until the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, clothing was always made of natural fibres, cotton, linen, wool or silk. Then, at the beginning of the 20th century, the first synthetic fibre was commercially manufactured: wood became viscose. In 1940, nylon was the first completely synthetic fibre to appear on the market. In the 1950s, the first items of clothing made of polyester were found in stores. Today, polyester is by far the most common material for clothing, accounting for 52 percent of global fibre production[2].

Polyester, cotton and viscose are harmful to the environment

Polyester[3], nylon[4], and other man-made fibres like polyamide[5], acrylic[6], and elastane[7] have advantages—they're cheap, and they use relatively little water to make. But their starting material is the finite raw material petroleum. And they contribute to plastic and microplastic pollution when they enter the environment.

And they do that on a significant scale: clothing loses fibres, during manufacture, during wear and during washing; In Switzerland, 650 tons of microplastics from textiles end up in the environment every year. And in countries like Chile or Ghana[8], old clothes collected abroad rot in huge landfills; some of them are washed into the sea. They will not rot in the ground or in salt water. Instead, like other plastic waste, they break down into smaller and smaller particles over time.

The second most important fibre on the market does not have this problem: cotton[9] is a natural fibre and biodegradable. But growing them requires a lot of fertilizer, pesticides and water. An estimated 3,700 or 4,700 litres of water are needed to produce one pair of jeans.

And viscose[10], which is made from renewable raw materials, also has its pitfalls. The cellulose from the wood of beech or eucalyptus is dissolved and the resulting so-called dope is pressed through nozzles to create the fibre. "You can imagine the process as making spaghetti from dough," says Matthäi, "only much finer, and the 'spaghetti' doesn't tear as quickly."

In this process, however, large amounts of toxic carbon disulfide and caustic soda are sometimes used. The same applies to modal, which is also made from cellulose. Bamboo viscose has therefore also fallen into disrepute. At first it was considered particularly sustainable because of the fast and pesticide-free growing raw material.

The production of lyocell does not require any toxic chemicals

Because neither viscose nor polyester nor cotton are really sustainable, manufacturers are looking for alternative fibres. And so there are now clothes made of materials with names like Lyocell[11] or PLA[12], bamboo viscose or soy silk, pineapple leather or milk fibre.[13] A lot of it sounds like nature. But the raw material alone does not make a fibre sustainable.

Lyocell is considered to be comparatively environmentally friendly, and the label often includes the brand name Tencel. It is also a so-called regenerated fiber that is chemically synthesized from renewable raw materials. But unlike classic viscose, the solvent used in lyocell is not toxic.

And lyocell is – just like classic viscose – biodegradable, i.e. it is broken down by microorganisms into CO2, water and minerals. A recently published study showed that this not only works in the garden, but also in the sea.

"Compostable" does not mean "biodegradable"

Scientists hung samples of different textiles in the sea for more than a year. The cotton samples then dissolved – no surprise, even from the cotton underpants buried in the garden only the seams and the elastic band are left after two months if the soil is healthy. The lyocell had also disappeared after months in the sea.

The sample made of PLA, a bioplastic that is also processed into textiles, was almost unchanged. PLA is the abbreviation of Polylactic Acid. It is made from fermented starch from sugar beets or corn, advertised as particularly sustainable and is officially compostable. But that does not mean that it is degraded in the environment.

Because in order to be able to call itself "compostable", the material only has to decompose within three months in an industrial composting plant. In this, however, there are completely different conditions of temperature, humidity and oxygen supply than in the garden - and even more so than in the sea.

“You cannot draw any direct conclusions from results on the compostability of a material as to whether it can also be decomposed by microorganisms in a different environment,” says Matthäi. "The conditions and the composition of the microorganisms are completely different." The study shows that bioplastics also contribute to the littering of the oceans with plastic.[14]

Soy silk, milk fibre and pineapple leather: new fibres have their pitfalls

It might be different with soy silk.[15] According to Matthäi, it is in principle biodegradable, but like viscose, manufacturing processes and chemical additives could impair its degradability. The material is often featured in reports on sustainable clothing, but only a few raw fabrics and yarns are available to knit yourself. According to the information provided, they are made from waste from tofu production in a closed cycle.

While soy silk[16] does not seem to play a role on the market so far, an Austrian underwear manufacturer has released the first models with another new material this spring: milk fibre[17]. It should be very comfortable to wear. How good it is for the environment depends on whether only dairy waste that is no longer suitable for consumption is processed. And it depends on which additives are needed to spin a fibre from the milk protein. However, the underwear manufacturer does not provide this information – and does not provide it later on request either.

Pineapple leather[18] is just one particularly exotic-sounding example of a non-animal and therefore supposedly sustainable alternative to leather. Other manufacturers use cork, mushrooms[19], apples[20], coffee, grapes, cacti or bananas as raw materials. But the naturalness usually doesn't go any further than that. Plastic is always involved, as a carrier material, adhesive or coating, and then often polyurethane[21].

Not all fibres can be recycled

The same applies to all fibres: even if a material is sustainable and biodegradable in itself, this is by no means necessarily the case with the finished garment. "A chemical change caused by dyeing or functionalisation - for example to make the clothing easy to iron or water-repellent - can impair biodegradability," says Matthäi. A small percentage of elastane, which many cotton dresses have, also has this effect.

And recyclability also suffers as a result. Pure natural fibres can be shredded mechanically, and the resulting shorter fibres can be spun again. This is often not possible with synthetics; recycled polyester is not made from reused clothing, but from PET bottles.

It's certainly better than oil, but – contrary to what the advertising suggests – it shouldn't be seen as a solution to the packaging waste problem. All the more so since PET is particularly easy to recycle and should serve better as a raw material for a new bottle than for a fleece jacket.

For Anett Matthäi, all these fibres alone cannot be the solution anyway. There is probably not enough cultivable land to produce the quantities of clothing currently made from polyester with clothing made from fibres from renewable raw materials. "In my opinion, the most important thing is that the consumption of materials is reduced overall," she sums up. Then, she believes, it would also be possible to produce enough materials from renewable raw materials or by recycling waste.

So before you bury your underpants in the garden, you should ask yourself whether you could still wear them for a while.

Source

Esther Widmann, Lyocell, Milchfaser und Ananasleder: Neue Textilfasern werben mit Nachhaltigkeit. Ihre Versprechen halten können die wenigsten, in Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 29-08-2023, https://www.nzz.ch/wissenschaftnachhaltige-textilfasern-wie-gut-sind-lyocell-co-wirklich-ld.1745536

[1] Hof University, German: Hochschule Hof, full name Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hof, is a public non-profit business, media and technical vocational university founded in 1994 in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany.

[2] Read also: https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/725160672165543936/scientists-develop-simple-way-to-recycle-polyester?source=share

[3] Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include naturally occurring chemicals, such as in plants and insects, as well as synthetics such as polybutyrate. Natural polyesters and a few synthetic ones are biodegradable, but most synthetic polyesters are not. Synthetic polyesters are used extensively in clothing.

[4] Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides (repeating units linked by amide links). Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petroleum, that can be melt-processed into fibers, films, or shapes]: 2  Nylon polymers can be mixed with a wide variety of additives to achieve many property variations. Nylon polymers have found significant commercial applications in fabric and fibers (apparel, flooring and rubber reinforcement), in shapes (molded parts for cars, electrical equipment, etc.), and in films (mostly for food packaging)

[5] A polyamide is a polymer with repeating units linked by amide bonds. Polyamides occur both naturally and artificially. Examples of naturally occurring polyamides are proteins, such as wool and silk. Artificially made polyamides can be made through step-growth polymerization or solid-phase synthesis yielding materials such as nylons, aramids, and sodium polyaspartate. Synthetic polyamides are commonly used in textiles, automotive industry, carpets, kitchen utensils and sportswear due to their high durability and strength. The transportation manufacturing industry is the major consumer, accounting for 35% of polyamide (PA) consumption

[6] Acrylic fabric is made with plastic threads. The plastic threads are made of a manmade polymer fiber created from fossil fuels through a chemical process. Acrylic fabric is made in a way similar to the production of polyamide fabric (or nylon fabric) and polyester fabric.

[7] Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fibre known for its exceptional elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont.

[8] Read also: https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/720260226679488512/hms-answer-about-the-dumped-clothes-article?source=share

[9] Read also https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/715379082096951296/the-type-of-cotton-matters-betting-on-more?source=share

[10] Rayon is a semi-synthetic fiber, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. It is also called viscose. Many types and grades of viscose fibers and films exist. Some imitate the feel and texture of natural fibers such as silk, wool, cotton, and linen. The types that resemble silk are often called artificial silk.

[11] Lyocell is a semi-synthetic fiber used to make textiles for clothing and other purposes. It is a form of regenerated cellulose made by dissolving pulp and dry jet-wet spinning. Unlike rayon made by some of the more common viscose processes, Lyocell production does not use carbon disulfide, which is toxic to workers and the environment. Lyocell was originally trademarked as Tencel in 1982.

[12] Polylactic acid, also known as polylactic acid or polylactide (PLA), is a thermoplastic polyester.

[13] Read also: https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/721296904220196864/joline-jolink-makes-biodegradable-fashion?source=share

[14] Read also: https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/656486012918333440/fashion-brands-are-diving-into-ocean-plastic-but?source=share

[15] With the softness of silk, soy fabric or “vegetable cashmere” is one of the world’s most eco-friendly fabrics. Produced using soy protein derived from the hulls of soybeans, this intriguing textile takes a waste product and transforms it into a usable textile with minimal use of toxic chemicals and limited processing. Soy fabric has excellent drape, and it is highly elastic. While this textile dyes well, colors sometimes bleed during the first few washings. Though reasonably prone to pilling, soy fabric does not wrinkle, and it doesn’t shrink. https://sewport.com/fabrics-directory/soy-fabric

[16] Soy silk has similar properties to animal silk: it has a smooth, soft structure, a shimmering shine, it is temperature regulating has high moisture absorption. Unlike conventional silk, it hardly creases and is completely biodegradable… https://www.glore.de/Materiallexikon/Sojaseide/

[17] Milk protein fibers are synthetic fibers made from the milk protein casein. In 2011, the new fiber made headlines as a particularly ecological alternative to cotton. Casein fibers have been known since the 1930s. Designer Anke Domaske developed the new milk fiber Qmilk together with the Fiber Institute Bremen. For the production, casein powder is heated together with other natural ingredients and drawn into threads through a nozzle. Only 2 liters of water are needed to produce 1 kg of milk fibre. On the other hand, in the production of cotton textiles, 10,000-25,000 liters are used for 1 kg of fabric. Every year in Germany alone, 1.9 million tons of milk have to be disposed of because it is no longer suitable for consumption. It still contains valuable ingredients and offers great potential for technical purposes. https://www.glore.de/Materiallexikon/Milchfaser/

[18] Piñatex is a non-biodegradable leather alternative made from cellulose fibres extracted from pineapple leaves, PLA (polylactic acid), and petroleum-based resin. Piñatex was developed by Dr Carmen Hijosa and first presented at the PhD graduate exhibition at the Royal College of Art, London. Piñatex is manufactured and distributed by Hijosa's company Ananas Anam Ltd.

[19] Read also: https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/667314088734507008/mushrooms-as-raw-material-for-leather-accessories?source=share

[20] Read alsop: https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/677442405046321152/we-make-a-sneaker-out-of-apples?source=share

[21] Polyurethane refers to a class of polymers composed of organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane is produced from a wide range of starting materials. This chemical variety produces polyurethanes with different chemical structures leading to many different applications. These include rigid and flexible foams, and coatings, adhesives, electrical potting compounds, and fibres such as spandex and polyurethane laminate (PUL). Foams are the largest application accounting for 67% of all polyurethane produced in 2016.