Recycling of Low Grade Clothing Waste - Oakdene Hollins

© Oakdene Hollins Ltd, Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd
Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute Ltd September 2006
reclaimed or recycled is currently around 54,000 tonnes annually. A
proportion of this material is exported for recycling overseas. These
traditional markets for recycled textiles are mature and offer very little
opportunity for added‐value.
The scope of this study is to examine the feasibility of making nonwovens
from a range of low‐grade clothing waste, which would normally be sent to
landfill, to create high added‐value products consisting of up to 100%
recycled waste materials as well as blends with functional materials (e.g.
activated carbon).
Feasibility has now been established and a number of applications
identified for the nonwovens produced. The aim is to identify and
approach potential customers in these markets forming the basis of longer
term collaborations.
9.2 UK Market for Recycled Textiles
The UK market for recycled textiles is estimated to be around 62,000 tonnes
per annum. Other sources suggest that the market is dominated by three
main application areas consuming 53,200 tonnes per annum of recycled
textile products.
The largest volume application in the UK is for mattress/upholstery with
66% of all recycled product being in this market. Carpet underlay and
automotive applications (mainly sound insulation materials) are much
lower volume markets (11% and 8.7% respectively). There are also many
other much smaller diverse application areas that comprise almost one sixth
of the total market, including horticultural basket liners, capillary matting,
and thermal insulation. The market is summarised in Table 19.
Table 19: Breakdown of the UK recycled textile market
Application
Volume
(Tonnes/yr)
Market Proportion
(%)
Mattress/Upholstery 41,000 66
Carpet Underlay 6,800 11
Automotive 5,400 8.7
Other 8,800 14.3
Total 62,000 100
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