Is recycled cotton an innovative fabric?

Recycled cotton is produced from cotton waste, such as fabric offcuts, used clothing or clearance stock. By giving these fabrics a new lease of life, recycled cotton reduces the consumption of natural resources to produce virgin cotton.

The use of recycled cotton is entirely in line with the principles of a circular economy. It helps, in effect, to upcycle waste and reintegrate it into the manufacturing cycle, reducing the amount the final of waste and encouraging (slightly) more responsible consumption.

Post-consumer recycled cotton comes from textiles that have reached the end of their life cycles. You know, the clothing banks after leaving the store, for example?Well, they could become new cotton garments. Used textiles are, therefore, collected, sorted, shredded... and transformed into new yarns.

This approach favours sustainability by using waste at the end of the life cycle. With the recycling process done locally, this further limits product transport, and, subsequently CO2 emissions. What else? Dyeing is either entirely avoided or partially done. However, the yarn manufacturing process today allows a maximum of 30 % of this type of recycled cotton to be incorporated.

This recycled cotton has already been successfully tested to manufacture 100% cotton fabrics. No restrictions apply when it comes to dyeing: the yarn can be left as raw (more or less unbleached), dyed in a plain colour or used for printed fabrics.There is nonetheless a catch: the yarn dye can vary from batch to batch due to the variety of recycled raw materials used. This varies much more than for post-industrial recycled cotton (which we will talk about just after), where the composition is more homogenous.

Despite its significant advantages, this process has a few weaknesses. The sorting of end-of-life textiles is not yet automated, which requires human intervention, potentially limiting the volumes processed. On top of that, the production (done in the “Euromed” area: Euro-Mediterranean free-trade area) leads to a higher cost than the usual finished product. Only one supplier currently offers this type of recycled cotton! 

But there is good news! Despite preconceived ideas, the yarn feel and appearance no longer has that slightly coarse appearance.

The other way of recycling cotton is to use pre-consumer (or post-industrial) cotton. Here, we're talking about collectiing production offcuts (from factories). And combined with the minimal waste design technique (a means of reducing scraps as much as possible thanks to a clever pattern-cutting design), it makes for a promising combo!

Just like with post-consumer cotton, this type of cotton helps to reduce natural resources (namely, virgin cotton). It does not require growing new fibres, intensive water irrigation, pesticides or chemical fertilisers. It helps to reduce soil and water pollution, along with greenhouse gas emissions linked to conventional farming.

Lastly, in the case of mottled colours, the dyeing process can be entirely avoided, representing an additional benefit in environmental impact reduction terms.

Added bonus: this type of recycled cotton can be used for 100% cotton or blended fabrics (cotton/polyester, cotton/lyocell, etc.).

Aside from its strengths, there are nevertheless some disadvantages…

Pre-consumer recycled cotton can have a slightly different visual appearance and feel than conventional cotton.It feels “less smooth”: you can sometimes see small "neps", tiny fibre blemishes that form during recycling. It doesn't affect the fabric's quality, but some people might dislike it.
Lastly, there is currently a technical constraint: the maximum amount of recycled cotton in a new yarn is 30 %.

So, what's it to be, pre or post-consumer cotton? Post-consumer recycled cotton is fully in line with the circular economy approach, giving end-of-life textiles a new lease of life. However, today, its limited production cannot match the requirements of large-scale industrialisation.