Introduction:
Recycling
Definition: It is a repeated re-introduction into the same
production process of a used economic good or of waste incurred during
production.
In todays parlance however, recycling is also understood to
mean the reworking of used commodity into a new product destined for new
markets, thus withdrawing it from the original production cycle.
Why recycling of textile materials?
For instance, we get textile material from crude oil. Only a
6% of petrochemicals are obtained from a crude oil which then gives less than
1% of usable raw material required for textile polymers which is then converted
into fibres and subsequently into finished textile products. Thus, we get less
than 1% textile material from 100% crude oil whereas the availability of crude
oil is limited, so for the fulfillment of textile products, textile materials
must be recycled.
Looking at recycling in its ideal form we would have process
whereby a used product is re-integrated into a production process at some
suitable point and it would be desirable that this process should be
repeatable. Another alternative would be to rework such a used product to
create a different commodity, while yet another alternative would be to divert
it to another application.
In cases where neither recycling now reworking is feasible
we are left with the disposal which in our context implies either incineration
or tip dumping.
In terms of textiles, recycling can cover many
different areas. Firstly, there is the recycling of clothing as whole garments.
This could be through charity shops or via the Vintage clothes market or
through the reuse of clothing items which have been reworked, printed over or
re-cut, tube resold.
Secondly, there is the recycling of materials in
a more industrial context. This could include the production of recycled yarn
where textiles are unraveled and re-spun into new fibres or it could include
the reuse of waste textiles as fillings for upholstery or as cleaning wipes for
industrial purposes.
Alongside this, there is the sort of reuse that
mainly occurs in a domestic setting The make-do and mend approach is either
extending the useful life of an item or product, for example by darning some
old wool socks, or reusing a material or product or giving it another function,
such as turning old curtains into a garment.
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About the Authors:
The authors are students of VJTI, Mumbai
