Fast fashion, as a continuously growing part of the textile industry, is widely criticized for its excessive resource use and high generation of textiles. To reduce its environmental impacts, numerous efforts are focused on finding sustainable and eco-friendly approaches to textile recycling. However, waste textiles and fibers are still mainly disposed of in landfills or by incineration after their service life and thereby pollute the natural environment, as there is still no effective strategy to separate natural fibers from chemical fibers. Herein, a green chemistry strategy is developed for the separation and regeneration of waste textiles at the molecular level. Cellulose/wool keratin composite fibers and multicomponent fibers are regenerated from waste textiles via a green chemical process. The strategy attempts to reduce the large amount of waste textiles generated by the fast-developing fashion industry and provide a new source of fibers, which can also address the fossil fuel reserve shortages caused by chemical fiber industries and global food shortages caused by natural fiber production.

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Textile Waste Fiber Regeneration via a Green Chemistry Approach: A Molecular Strategy for Sustainable Fashion

Abstract The rapid expansion of the fast fashion industry brings about environmental concerns such as dyestuffs-related water pollutions and waste textiles. Conventional wastewater-disposal strategies emphasize the optimization of photocatalytic activity to improve pollutant degradation efficiency, while the absorptivity, recyclability and sustainability of photocatalysts are always ignored. The overproduced textiles are still in urgent of being recycled and reutilized in eco-friendly approaches. In this work, a scalable dyeing technology is employed to achieve green and sustainable reutilization of waste textiles. The functionalized TiO 2 /reduced graphene oxide wool fabrics show excellent sustainability, remarkable adsorbing capacity and enhanced photocatalytic performance. By taking advantage of these properties, we develop an integrated strategy of night-time adsorption and day-time photodegradation which could significantly optimize the dyestuffs degradation efficiency. The concept of waste textiles reutilization and wastewater treatment in this work provides practical potential for efficient and sustainable environmental remediation. Graphical abstract Concept of waste textiles reutilization and wastewater treatment. 

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Waste Textile Reutilization Via a Scalable Dyeing Technology: A Strategy to Enhance Dyestuffs Degradation Efficiency

Addressing sustainability gaps.

Addressing sustainability gaps

Smart wearable electronic textiles (e-textiles) that can detect and differentiate multiple stimuli, while also collecting and storing the diverse array of data signals using highly innovative, multifunctional, and intelligent garments, are of great value for personalized healthcare applications. However, material performance and sustainability, complicated and difficult e-textile fabrication methods, and their limited end-of-life processability are major challenges to wide adoption of e-textiles. In this review, we explore the potential for sustainable materials, manufacturing techniques, and their end-of-the-life processes for developing eco-friendly e-textiles. In addition, we survey the current state-of-the-art for sustainable fibers and electronic materials (i.e., conductors, semiconductors, and dielectrics) to serve as different components in wearable e-textiles and then provide an overview of environmentally friendly digital manufacturing techniques for such textiles which involve less or no water utilization, combined with a reduction in both material waste and energy consumption. Furthermore, standardized parameters for evaluating the sustainability of e-textiles are established, such as life cycle analysis, biodegradability, and recyclability. Finally, we discuss the current development trends, as well as the future research directions for wearable e-textiles which include an integrated product design approach based on the use of eco-friendly materials, the development of sustainable manufacturing processes, and an effective end-of-the-life strategy to manufacture next generation smart and sustainable wearable e-textiles that can be either recycled to value-added products or decomposed in the landfill without any negative environmental impacts.

Toward Sustainable Wearable Electronic Textiles

Textiles are essential to humans in a variety of ways, especially clothing. However, the speed at which they end up in landfills is astonishing (one garbage truck per second), posing a severe risk to the environment, if the trend continues. Governments and responsible organizations are starting to make calls to different stakeholders to redesign the textile chain from linear to circular economy. In this perspective, we highlight some of the possible approaches to be undertaken including the need for the creation of renewable raw materials sources, rethinking production, maximum use and reuse of textile products, reproduction, and recycling strategies, redistribution of textiles to new and parallel markets, and improvising means to extend the textiles lifetime.

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Xuandong Chen

Papers

Circular Economy and Sustainability of the Clothing and Textile Industry