How to turn waste textiles into treasure?

A worn clothes or a plastic bottle carelessly thrown into the trash will most likely end up in landfill or incineration, sleeping in the soil for hundreds of years and slowly degrading back to nature. However, with the rapid development of Chinese textile technology, the recycling has a "better future". As the call for "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" continues to heat up around the world, a new economic form featuring green, low-carbon and circular textile and garment industry is accelerating.

Can waste textiles re-enter the fashion "cycle"? Zhu Meifang, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor of Donghua University, around the theme of Recycling of Fiber Materials and Products, The paper shared the achievements of the recycling transformation of China's textile and garment industry, such as the diversification of fiber raw material structure, the increasing exploration of green design practice, the improvement of the recycling level of manufacturing resources, the gradual appearance of sustainable consumption trend, and the basic formation of the industrial chain of the comprehensive utilization of waste textiles. The progress and breakthrough of her team in the pulping and purification of waste cotton fabrics and the recycling of waste polyester and high purity BHET were introduced. She said that in the future, she hopes to strengthen the cooperation with Keqiao in the field of original fiber, and make the fabric from the performance of "all over the world".

Developing recycling chemical fiber is an important way to realize sustainable development of textile industry in our country and it is also an important direction for some Keqiao textile enterprises to explore transformation and upgrading. Zhejiang Xingfa Chemical Fiber Group Co., LTD., as a professional supplier of chemical fiber integrating research and development, production and sales, is one of the pioneers in Keqiao textile industry catering to the wave of environmental protection. In 2019, the company passed the GRS(Global recycling Standard) certification and began to devote itself to the production of environmentally friendly recycled fiber. By recycling waste plastic bottles and making recycled polyester chips through physical methods, the company has well replaced the original polyester chips from petroleum and reduced the consumption of energy from the source.

In recent years, with the focus on green development, Keqiao fiber field has constantly adjusted and optimized its structure. Remarkable achievements have been made in the field of new materials and high-tech fibers. Natural fibers such as cotton, hemp, wool and silk have been developing vigorously, and fiber technologies such as recycling chemical fibers and bio-based chemical fibers have been making continuous progress. Next, Textile City Keqiao will strive to build the world's leading textile material science and technology center, based on the research and development of new textile materials and new technology, improve the overall value of the downstream industry chain from the source.