An overview of cotton and polyester, and their blended waste textile valorisation to value-added products: A circular economy approach – research trends, opportunities and challenges

Abstract

Fast-changing fashion trends have resulted in increases in textile production and waste generation. The environmental impacts of the production, consumption and end-of-life of textiles are amply documented. Therefore, the industry has started to shift from the linear economy principle of ‘take-make-waste’ to the circular economy concept, where textiles can reenter the life cycle rather than being wasted and thus form a closed loop, resulting in resource savings and reduced environmental impacts. To this end, valorization of solid waste streams from the textile industry to recover fibers and marketable value-added products has gained increasing attention in recent years. Textile waste valorization involves three main steps: pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis and fiber regeneration. This review presents the main methodologies and the most recent technical developments in these valorization strategies, the value-added products obtained and their applications. Furthermore, the review describes fermentative products synthesized using cellulosic glucose from the cotton fraction of waste streams. Gaps and challenges in existing strategies are identified for potential future research. This review will help to apprize researchers and practitioners of important recent developments in effective textile valorization via upcycling and guide them in the design of efficient strategies for sustainable management of textile waste streams.

Graphical abstract

Keywords:

• Bio-conversion
• cotton/polyester blend
• enzymatic hydrolysis
• fiber regeneration
• pretreatment

HANDLING EDITORS:

• Yu Yang and Yong Sik Ok

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

The authors give appreciation to the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) and the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) in Hong Kong for the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITP/002/19TP). The authors also express gratitude to the industrial sponsors H&M Conscious Foundation and H&M (Far East) Ltd. The work described in this paper was partially supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. UGC/FDS25/E10/17). Vinod Kumar would like to acknowledge the vWa Project funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (Project No. BB/S011951/1).