Open-loop recycling of end-of-life textiles as geopolymer fibre reinforcement.

The treatment and management of textile waste is an ever-growing issue worldwide, due to the continuously changing trends and the popularity of fast-fashion brands. There are numerous waste management methods besides simple landfilling, including reuse, open-loop or closed-loop recycling options. The described research explores the applicability of an open-loop recycling method, the processing of end-of-life textiles to produce fibres for fibre-reinforced geopolymers, to combine various waste streams for the production of an environmentally friendly binder system. By the examination of different textile waste processing methods, the most valuable fibrous material was produced with the application of a rotary shear and a vertical cutting mill, eliminating the necessity of manual cutting. As the most common base material of the textiles was found to be polyester and cotton, these were deemed useful for fibre reinforcement. The flexural strength showed a significant increase with the addition of 5 wt.% fibres, indicating the possibility of more than doubling the flexural strength of geopolymer specimens. Based on the microstructural analysis, however, even though there was good adhesion between the fibre and the geopolymer matrix, the latter showed inhomogeneities with higher fibre addition, indicating the need to further optimise the production steps, such as mixing time, vibration time, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Waste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)