Recycled fibres a good choice for you?

For me recycling of consumer textiles is a difficult issue. On one hand I like to work with mono-materials, knowing what is inside the material, not using toxic chemicals. Because when using recycled content, multiple fibres and chemicals are mixed which makes it difficult to know what is inside your material.  On the other hand I like recycled fibres because we already have a lot of textiles that are now thrown away and that can be respun into yarn, which reduces the use of raw materials.

What do you have to know as a designer about post-consumer mechanically recycled yarns?

• The yarns from recycled content are mostly suitable for heavier wovens or knits. 

• When using recycled content the fibre length gets shorter and to make the material of good quality virgin fibre needs to be added.
• Using mechanically recycled fibres considerably reduces the impact on the environment if you compare the quality of the end product with the same product in new fibres. 
• Twining and braiding are options for improved yarn properties.
• Every time there is a new supply of textile that has to be shreddered and respun, this means material composition and colour differ from time to time. This makes your design unique!
• Recycling is more difficult when there are a lot of buttons, trims, zippers etc. on the garments, try to design new ways of closing/opening and decorating.
• When using labels and stitching yarn in your garments, use the same materials as your textile is made from, this improves the recycling process. (cotton shirt means cotton labels)
• Avoid fibre blends
• Avoid the use of finishes and coatings, or think of ways to remove them from the textile.

Glossary
chemical recycled: 
when the textile is brought back to a monomer of which they make polymers again.

mechanically recycled: shredding the textile into fibre and respinning it into yarn. 

post consumer: 
after the consumer has used it and it is collected.

pre consumer:
industrial (cut-)waste, before it is made into a product.

As a designer you have a huge influence on how a product can be recycled by choosing the right material and construction method. Recycled fibre can be an option.

At this moment recycled content has a marketing issue. Consumers need to accept the recycled content. Karin van Beurden from Saxion presented how recycled content can be accepted by consumers. More about that in the next blog article!

And you? Would you use recycled content in your products? And why?
You can answer in the comments below. 

---

This article is a combination of the Dutch RiO (Recycling in Design) project presentations from Anton Luiken and Ger Brinks with additional information from Gerrit Bouwhuis.
Click here for more (dutch) information about the research "Recycling in Design" 

 The picture is a close-up of recycled yarn from Texperium. Here you can buy the yarns.