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| Issue date:01/02/2008 |
| ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel - Feb 2008 Issue |
| Source:Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel |
| by Adrian Wilson |
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| Recycling brings a second life to the dated and used fiber materials, making them a new green alternative in today's eco-conscious climate. Nonwoven and man-made fibers are reused to manufacture recycled textile and garment products, consuming less water, energy and materials in the process. |
In July 2007, German industrial holding company Aurelius AG acquired Wellman International, Europe's largest recycler of post-consumer PET bottles and the leading European producer of polyester staple fibers.
Wellman Incorporated, headquartered in Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA, arranged the sale as part of its strategy to focus on its US chemical-based business.
With approximately 380 employees, Wellman International generates an annual turnover of about 110 million euros. In two plants at Spijk, the Netherlands, and at Verdun in France, post-consumer PET bottles, collected throughout Europe, are recycled so the material can be used to produce polyester fibers or recycled PET, which is used in packaging.
Polyester fibers made from this recycled material at the company's plant in Ireland are used in a wide range of applications including personal hygiene articles, upholstered furniture, loose-filled bed products and car interior trim. The Dutch recycling plant, set up in 1989, was one of the first of its kind in Europe to process post-consumer PET bottles on an industrial scale, while the Irish fiber plant is the largest in Europe and has led the way in developing fibers from recycled materials since its construction in 1973.
Post-consumer PET bottles collected throughout Europe are recycled by Wellman International |
"Avoiding waste and re-using plastic materials are politically and socially important objectives for Europe and the world," said Dr Dirk Markus, CEO of Aurelius at the time of the purchase. "Wellman International, with its scale and focus on recycling, is at the forefront of this trend."
Romanian firm aspires to being largest polyester fiber recycler
Wellman International, however, now has a serious rival.
Romania's GreenFiber International aims to be the biggest manufacturer of recycled polyester staple fiber in Europe |
Romania's GreenFiber International SA has recently announced new investment plans aimed at making it the biggest manufacturer of recycled polyester staple fiber in Europe.
Having started up its second manufacturing line in February 2007, the company currently has an annual production capacity of 36,000 tons, of which 83% is being exported to other European countries and 17% used on its domestic market.
With the installation of a third line this year, the company's output will increase to an annual 54,000 tons.
GreenFiber has now purchased the plant of former virgin polyester fiber manufacturer SC Terom SA at the Romanian city of Iasi, where its own second production line is operating, and the third line will be installed.
PET flakes from the processing and recycling of PET bottles |
It has also purchased another former polyester producer called SC Corapet SA where it intends to install new technologies for handling recycled raw materials.
GreenFiber has a tight collaboration with GreenTech SA, the manufacturer of PET flakes from the processing and recycling of PET bottles.
Recycled textile fiber production drops
However, while the number of PET bottles collected in Europe has increased, less is actually being recycled back into textile fibers.
According to Brussels-based Petcore, which represents the industry, European post-consumer PET collection rates reached 944,000 tonnes in 2006, an 18.5% increase over the previous year.
Collection continued to grow steadily in most European countries and has increased most significantly in the UK and Ireland, because the PET component of mixed plastic bales has been counted for the first time.
With a maximum input capacity of in excess of one million tons of PET bottles spread over more than 80 companies, Europe has the capability to recycle all the PET bottles collected.
The largest share of the collected PET containers was still recycled into polyester fibers in 2006, according to the latest figures available.
However, in 2005, around 57% of the collected PET containers were recycled into polyester fiber products, down from 65% in 2004 and from 70% in 2003. By contrast, the market for polyester sheet rapidly gained share (16.2%), in a range of thermoformed applications where the use of recycled PET has tripled since 2003. Re-use back into PET bottles also steadily increased, to represent 15.2% of the market.
Recycled fibers considered green and in
It is worth noting at this stage, that the nonwovens fabrics industry – while associated largely with disposable products such as nappies and wipes – has its origins in the re-use and recycling of waste products.
Basic nonwovens emerged in West Europe over 100 years ago and for many decades were treated as low-price substitutes for traditional textiles. The two main manufacturing systems initially employed to make them were adopted from the wetlaid technology of the paper industry and carded textile technology.
The products were generally crude and used for very basic applications such as wiping materials, or for bulking out other products as linings or as primitive insulation.
The introduction of synthetic fibers, followed by the development of ever-more sophisticated technologies, such as spunmelt extrusion and hydroentanglement, has seen nonwovens continuously expand their usefulness across a wide range of industries.
The production of nonwovens in 1990 in the then-12 EU countries plus Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Yugoslavia amounted to 450,000 tons.
In 2006, according to Europe's trade body EDANA, the expanded EU countries, plus Norway and Switzerland produced 1,494,000 tonnes.
However, while nonwovens production has more than tripled over the last quarter of the previous century, the original business of taking rags and scrap from textile mills and turning them into new products has been diminishing in Europe.
This is ironic, since what were considered as cheap substitutes to what was available, could possibly be sold in today's eco-conscious climate – perhaps even at a premium – as "green" alternatives.
Another attempt of large-scale recycling is jointly made by Toray and Patagonia to recapture used nylon 6 fibers that will have a new market value when they are re-manufactured.
The two companies will start recycling with the 2008 spring-summer collection of surf pants and extend those efforts to cover the fall-winter collection of hard-shell jackets for alpine climbing.
Under Patagonia's Common Threads Garment Recycling Program, customers can return products they no longer need to a Patagonia store in exchange for a sticker. The products thus collected will be restored to its raw material form, caprolactam, at Toray's facilities. They will then be reused in the manufacturing process of nylon 6 for various applications.
According to Toray, reuse of nylon 6 adopting chemical recycling enables a 70% reduction in energy consumption for production as well as in carbon dioxide emission compared with the regular petroleum-based nylon 6. This endeavor is expected to yield significant returns in terms of energy savings. The recycled products will later be sold through 2,000 retail stores in 12 countries around the world.
Toray Group, with its Ecodream Project, aims at doubling the group sales of environmentally friendly products to about 340 billion yen (or about US$3.2 billion) by its financial year 2010, compared to 170 billion yen in FY 2006.
Germany recycles 15% of collected textiles into wipes
Across Europe, only an estimated 15%-20% of potential existing tonnage is really collected, although Germany is the exception. With a long ecological tradition, it collects roughly 70% of its potential tonnage. The German industry recycles or reuses 10 out of 12 kilos per capita collected per annum.
A significant percentage of recycled products are used by the automotive industry to create thermal and acoustic insulation nonwoven materials. In addition, the German manufacturing sector turns 15% of collected textiles into wiping products.
It is also worth noting that Germany is the leading European nonwoven manufacturer in terms of tonnage, whereas Italy leads in terms of square meters produced. This indicates that much more of Germany's output goes into heavier products, where there is more possibility of recycled materials being used, since for one thing, purity of fiber is not an issue.
At the same time globalization has led to the huge market for second hand clothing.
In many countries on the African continent, over 80% of the population dress themselves in second-hand clothing. Western clothing is very popular and second-hand clothing is often of better quality than the new clothes on offer. This business also provides many jobs.
The consumption of second-hand clothing also meets a real need in Europe. In Poland, for instance, it is estimated that 25% of the Polish population buys second-hand clothing, while the charity sector in the UK generates an annual GBP100 million from the sale of second-hand clothing through its network of 7,000 charity shops.
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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| Copyright © Adsale Publishing Limited. Any party needs to reprint any part of the content should get the written approval from Adsale Publishing Ltd and quote the source "ATA Journal for Asia on Textile & Apparel", Adsale Textile English Website - www.AdsaleATA.com. We reserve the right to take legal action against any party who reprints any part of this article without acknowledgement. For enquiry, please contact Editorial Department. |
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