substantial savings can be obtaining by off-setting the production of products made from virgin
materials.
The potential greenhouse gas emission savings of textile recycling have been considered in a study from
the Finnish Environment Institute conducted by Marja-Riitta Korhonen and Helena Dahlbo (Korhonen & Dahlbo,
2007). In this study, the GHG emissions of oil sorbents manufactured from recovered textile fibres (wool, PP and
cotton) are compared with the emissions of polypropylene fibres, serving the same purpose of use but
manufactured from virgin raw materials. The results for this specific case revealed that using textile waste to
replace virgin plastic products can bring significant emissions reduction. The parameter that was
found to be the most influential on the extent of the achieved reductions was the choice of the
disposal option from which the textile waste is diverted in case of recycling. The GHG savings
potentials were found to be of 6 tons of CO 2 eq per ton of oil sorbent produced in the case of avoided combustion
and of 9.2 tons of CO 2 eq in the case of avoiding landfill. Indeed the emissions savings are higher because of the
avoided emissions from textile decomposition in the landfill. In addition, when recycling replaces incineration, the
energy otherwise produced by incineration is assumed to be generated by the average fuel mixture of the
electricity and heat supply in Finland (50% based on fossil fuels), generating some emissions. Another sensitivity
analysis was conducted in this study to assess the influence of the type of energy substituted by the energy
generated from waste (both in the recycled and reference product systems). The average fuel mixture was
replaced first by coal and then by renewable fuels but it did not substantially affect the emission savings
potential. The assumed origin of the textile material being recycled, 100% natural fibres or 100%
man-made was not found to have a significant influence either.
The DEFRA project that led to the report ‘Carbon Balances and Energy Impacts of the Management of UK Wastes’
(ERM, 2006) also evaluates greenhouse gas benefits and impacts associated with alternative
management routes for textile waste. Nevertheless, it should be noted that this study was not conducted as
an LCA. The results showed that recycling is more favourable than incineration. However, the study
highlights that the extent of benefits depends on the assumptions regarding the recovery route
(which determines the reprocessing requirements) and the alternative materials avoided. The
benefits from avoiding primary cloth production were compared with the benefits from reprocessing the textile
waste into rag/packing material offsetting the production of low grade paper material. The benefits turned out to
be much higher in the first case, as illustrated in Table 85 due to high resources requirements for primary
material production (cotton and polyester).
Table 85 Avoided burdens per kg of textile recycled according to the alternative materials avoided (ERM, 2006)Climate change
potential
(kg CO 2 eq avoided/kg)Fossil energy demand
(MJ eq avoided/kg)Conversion to wipers ‐
Avoided production of cotton cloth
(50%) and PET (50%)1,75 39,95Conversion to rags or filling materials ‐
Avoided production of kraft paper0,93 12,30Avoided burdens per kg of textile recycledThe GHG savings enabled by textile recycling have also been quantified in another study conducted on behalf of
DEFRA entitled ‘Recycling of Low Grade Clothing Waste’ (Oakdene Hollins Ltd et al., 2006). The conclusion was
that recycling of clothing as fibres saves about 4 kg CO 2 eq. per kg of clothing compared to disposal
thanks to the displacement of fibre production.
Although very different assumptions are made in these studies, the overall conclusion is that textile
recycling brings substantial environmental benefits. Textile recycling can thus be an interesting
incentive lever, which presents the advantage of not requiring a change of behaviour of consumers
during the use stage. In addition, the scale of the benefits mainly depends on the recovery routes
assumed as they determine the material production that is avoided.