TTNA looks at ways of reclaiming textile waste
Australia’s Technical Textiles & Nonwoven Association (TTNA) says it plans to develop a new Australian Fibre and Textile Environmental and Recycling Cooperative Research Centre.
One of its primary objectives will be to evaluate how fibrous waste can be reused and recycled in order to prevent it ending up in landfill sites.
According to the association’s executive manager, Kerryn Caulfield, around a million tonnes of fibrous waste is sent to the country’s landfill sites each year. At the same time, raw fibre materials are one of the largest overheads for the country’s textile, clothing and footwear industry. So the environmental benefits are matched by the potential economic benefits of recycling waste.
The work will be divided into three segments. The first will look at ways of reducing waste during the initial manufacturing stages. The second will look at ways of reclaiming and reusing various recycled materials as well as experimenting with new fibre recycling technology and evaluating energy use and reuse. The aim of the third segment will be to communicate the importance of its work to manufacturers, retailers and academic institutions.
