End-of-Life Textile Recognition in a Circular Economy Perspective: A Methodological Approach Based on Near Infrared Spectroscopy

Giuseppe Bonifazi, Riccardo Gasbarrone, Roberta Palmieri and Silvia Serranti ()
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Giuseppe Bonifazi: Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials and Environment, Sapienza-University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Riccardo Gasbarrone: Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials and Environment, Sapienza-University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Roberta Palmieri: Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials and Environment, Sapienza-University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Silvia Serranti: Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials and Environment, Sapienza-University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-15

Abstract: The life cycle of textiles (i.e., fabrics and apparel products) generates many environmental impacts, such as resource consumption, water, soil, and air pollution through the dispersion of chemical substances and greenhouse gases. For these reasons, in 2019, textiles were identified as a “priority product category for the circular economy” by the European Commission that proposed a new circular economy action plan focusing on recycling. An in-depth characterization of textile fabrics could lead to an ad hoc recycling procedure, reducing resource consumption and chemicals utilization. In this work, NIR (1000–1650 nm) spectroscopy was applied to extract information regarding fabric composition, with reference to cotton, silk, viscose, and some of their blends, using two different devices: a hyperspectral imaging (HSI) platform and a portable spectroradiometer. The different fabrics were correctly classified based on their spectral features by both detection instruments. The proposed methodological approach can be applied for quality control in the textile recycling sector at industrial and/or laboratory scale thanks to the easiness of use and the speed of detection.

Keywords: end-of-life textiles; fabric; waste characterization; hyperspectral imaging; recycling; circular economy; near infrared spectroscopy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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