Revolution in recycling: Old textiles become strong paper!

Revolution in recycling: Old textiles become strong paper!

In a groundbreaking development, researchers from the Technical University of Graz, led by Thomas Harter, have created a procedure for recycling textile waste in paper structures. Every year, around 220,000 tons of textile waste are incurred in Austria, with almost 80 percent being burned, which means the loss of valuable raw materials. "We have recognized the opportunity to regain the fibers from cotton -based old textiles and produce high -quality paper for packaging," said Harter. This innovative technology shows promising results regarding the tensile strength of the recycled paper, which proves to be much more stable than conventional recycled paper, according to the team.

procedure for textile extraction

To win the paper, old clothes are first cut into small scraps and soaked in an aqueous solution. This mixture is then ground to separate the cotton fibers without knot. "At the end of our experiments, we received a suspension that is very similar to normal paper suspension," confirms Harter. The first train attempts show that the paper with a textile fiber content of 30 percent is significantly more forward. This stability is achieved by the longer fibers - with 1.7 millimeters significantly longer than the shorter fibers from conventional recycled paper -, as Alexander Weissensteiner, a master student in the project, explains.

An additional goal of the research team is to optimize the energy consumption of the grinding process. Various additives, including light acids and enzymatic pretreatments, are tested for this. In the words of Harter: "We want to go the next scaling step and implement the process on industrial devices". These developments could not only lead to reducing waste, but also to reduce dependence on waste paper imports, which would strengthen the circular economy. In view of the current ecological challenges, such innovations are more important than ever to use raw materials efficiently and to minimize waste, as is