New textile waste recycling methods

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is developing new methods for handling large quantities of textile waste material. The European Union Directive set in 1999 contains quantitative restrictions regarding biodegradable waste deposited at landfill sites, and the practice of taking textile waste to landfill sites must end when regulations take effect in Finland Jan. 1, 2016. VTT research scientists are working with institutions, including Aalto University, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden and Tampere University of Technology, to separate the cellulose molecules contained in textile waste using efficient and environmentally friendly solvents. This allows large volumes of waste to be returned to textile production to create fabric as good as or better than the original.