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Hans India
4 days ago
- Science
- Hans India
IIT Delhi's new method to cut textile waste, recycle discarded denims to good quality garments
New Delhi: A team of researchers from IIT Delhi has developed a new method to recycle denim waste to knitted garments without compromising quality. The findings will also help reduce textile waste -- the discarded textiles and clothing after their use -- which end up in landfills. India accumulates around 3.9 million tonnes of domestic post-consumer textile waste annually, of which only 4 per cent is recycled. Those recycled lose fibre strength and face variability in colour and quality. However, with the novel method, the IIT researchers found that up to 50 per cent of recycled yarns can be used in knitted clothing without deteriorating the feel of the product. 'To reduce the roughness of recycled yarns, a softening treatment was applied to the fabric, which ensured that the tactile feel of the final product is the same as that of virgin products, said Prof Abhijit Majumdar, Dept. of Textiles and Fibre Engineering, IIT Delhi. 'We have demonstrated our work with denim waste, and it can be extended with any other textile waste,' he added. In the study, detailed in the Journal of Cleaner Production, the team recycled waste denim into yarns, ensuring minimum damage to the fibre properties by optimising the process conditions. Recycled yarns were then blended into knitted fabric using the seamless whole garment technology. Knitted garments were produced, varying the recycled yarn content from 25 per cent to 75 per cent. Another key aspect of this research was to quantify the environmental benefits through life cycle assessment (LCA) in the Indian context. Analysis by the IIT Delhi team showed that around 30-40 per cent of environmental impacts can be mitigated in terms of greenhouse gas emission, acid rain, and fossil fuel depletion, whereas for ozone layer depletion, it is around 60 per cent. As the use of recycled fibres could reduce the use of virgin cotton, the pesticides, fertilisers and water used for cultivation can also be saved. Among the processes involved, the cotton cultivation stage itself contributes 24 per cent to global warming, making the virgin yarns less environment-friendly. 'The research team is now exploring the possibility of recycling textile waste materials multiple times,' added Prof B.S. Butola, Dept. of Textile and Fibre Engineering, IIT Delhi.
India Today
4 days ago
- Science
- India Today
IIT Delhi develops process to turn denim waste into high-quality knitted garments
India generates nearly 3.9 million tonnes of domestic post-consumer textile waste each year, yet only about 4 percent of it is recycled. The rest ends up in landfills, where it can remain for such waste has long been a challenge due to variations in colour, fibre blends, and the reduction in fibre quality during conventional researchers at IIT Delhi have developed a process to recycle denim waste into knitted garments without compromising The team optimised process conditions to ensure minimum damage to fibre properties while converting waste denim into yarns. These yarns were then used to produce knitted fabric through seamless whole garment technology, with recycled yarn content ranging from 25 percent to 75 SOFTNESS AND FEELThe research, led by Professors Abhijit Majumdar and BS Butola from the Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering, revealed that up to 50 percent of recycled yarns can be incorporated into knitted garments without affecting their tactile feel.'To reduce the roughness of recycled yarns, a softening treatment was applied to the fabric which ensured that the tactile feel of the final product is same with that of virgin products,' said Professor added that although this study used denim waste, the method could be applied to other textile waste materials. Environmental benefits quantified through Life Cycled Assessment (LCA) ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS MEASUREDThe outcome of this research was published in the Journal of Cleaner Production and included a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) specific to the Indian context. PhD scholar Satya Karmakar collected data from Panipat's textile recycling cluster to measure environmental analysis showed that recycling denim waste could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, acid rain, and fossil fuel depletion by 30-40 percent, and cut ozone layer depletion by around 60 recycled fibres replace virgin cotton, significant savings are made in pesticides, fertilisers, and water use, especially since cotton cultivation alone contributes 24 percent to global TO RECYCLING MULTIPLE TIMESProfessor Butola noted that the team is now exploring whether textile waste can be recycled multiple times without compromising its research represents a step towards sustainable textile production, reducing reliance on virgin materials while keeping waste out of landfills.- Ends
