Textiles on the Path to Sustainability and Circularity—Results of Application Tests in the Business-to-Business Sector

Frieder Rubik (), Kai Nebel, Christina Klusch, Hanna Karg, Kim Hecht, Martina Gerbig, Sven Gärtner and Barbara Boldrini
Additional contact information
Frieder Rubik: Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Potsdamer Strasse 105, D-10785 Berlin, Germany
Kai Nebel: Faculty of Textiles, Reutlingen University Texoversum, Alteburgstrasse 150, D-72762 Reutlingen, Germany
Christina Klusch: Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Potsdamer Strasse 105, D-10785 Berlin, Germany
Hanna Karg: Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, Wilckensstrasse 3, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Kim Hecht: Hohenstein Innovations gGmbH, Schlosssteige 1, D-74357 Bönnigheim, Germany
Martina Gerbig: Faculty of Textiles, Reutlingen University Texoversum, Alteburgstrasse 150, D-72762 Reutlingen, Germany
Sven Gärtner: Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, Wilckensstrasse 3, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Barbara Boldrini: Teaching and Research Center Process Analysis and Technology (PA&T), Faculty of Life Sciences, Reutlingen University, Alteburgstrasse 150, D-72762 Reutlingen, Germany

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 14, 1-23

Abstract: The textile sector is responsible for a number of environmental impacts, e.g., climate change, and is not pursuing sustainable production and consumption patterns. Due to the increasing quantities of textiles, their share is rising, and a trend reversal from a linear to a circular and sustainable textile chain is needed. This article presents the background, methodological approach and results of a participatory textile development model. In the commercial B2B sector, three textile prototypes were developed together with users and trialled over several months in three application areas. Textile development took into account the requirements of fibre regeneration in the product design and focused on innovative more sustainable chemical recycling solutions. The three sustainably aligned textiles were subjected to spectroscopic and textile–technological tests. The sustainability tool screening life cycle assessments analysed their environmental profile and compared it with reference textiles that are used as the standard. Overall, it is clear that the three textiles can match conventional reference textiles in terms of quality and have considerable environmental benefits compared to the reference textiles. The user survey did identify concerns about a high artificial fibre content, although a general rejection of recycled fibres was not observed. The results show that a sustainable transformation is possible but must start with the fibre composition; recycling, on the other hand, is of minor importance.

Keywords: change production and consumption patterns; climate change; sustainability tools; textiles; recycling; LCA; participatory product development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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