Recyclability refers to the potential suitability of a material or a product for recycling. Recyclability generally requires that materials and products consist of a single fiber or fiber type, because technologies for recycling blend materials are still in development and are not yet available at an economically viable scale (NB: Valid at the time of writing, December 2019). Commonly recycled materials include polyester, elastane, polyamide nylon, wool, leather, down, and cellulose-based materials such as cotton, hemp, linen, viscose, lyocell and modal. Recyclability in fashion reduces the need for virgin materials and enables the creation of new products from resources that are already in circulation. When applied to design and product development, design for recyclability ensures that at the end of its useful life a product can enter a new material stream. To facilitate recyclability, all materials and inputs must be free from hazardous chemicals, ensuring worker and wearer safety, and must consist of mono materials or be designed for disassembly. However, even the best recycling technologies rely on high energy use and chemicals, and so extending clothing lifetimes accompanied by radical cuts in global production and consumption volumes are the most effective ways of reducing the ecological footprint of fashion.(4),(1-6)
RECYCLABILITY
