This report describes filters for washing machines designed to remove either microplastic fibres or lint from laundry water and investigates possibilities and challenges with such filters from a practical and environmental perspective. The report includes results from a literature study and a laboratory study. Other studies on microplastics from laundry water are summarized briefly. It can be concluded that filtering solutions for washing machines which claim to remove lint and microplastic fibres can be purchased and installed. Three of the filtering solutions were tested in laboratory washing trials and were found to retain some of the microplastic, hence decreasing the amount of microplastic released with the laundry water. The retention was most profound the first time the new fabric was washed. To judge exactly how well the filters remove microplastics during realistic domestic washing conditions would require more comprehensive laboratory work. It is also necessary to further investigate how efficient the filters should be to present an alternative that is technologically, economically feasible as well as environmentally beneficial. Although the filters may retain microplastic fibres it may be necessary to design filtering solutions that are sufficiently user-friendly so that the filters are not by-passed by the user, and that there are good options for emptying or replacing the filters.

There is little knowledge about the release of microplastics from industrial laundries. This study was carried out to provide information about microplastics released in waste water from laundries. Six Swedish industrial laundries participated in the study. Of these two mainly washed hospital laundry, two mainly work wear, one mainly hotel laundry and one mainly mats. Small particles between 5-15 μm were dominant in this study, regardless of types of textiles washed or whether the laundry had a waste water treatment facility. From the microscopic, FTIR and SEM analyses it could be concluded that microplastics were not dominant in this size range. Most of the particles (in the 5 to 15 μm range) were of other materials (for example minerals, metal fragments, silica, aluminium silicate, yeast, starch). From the results from the measurements, calculations were made to estimate the number of released microplastic particles. The release varied significantly between the different laundries. If the calculations were based on an assumed best-case scenario, between 5 000 and 4 550 000 of microplastic particles were released per kg of washed textile. If a worst-case scenario was assumed, between 15 000 and 5 375 000 microplastic particles were released per kg of washed textile. Three laundries with either chemical or biological waste water treatment adjacent to the production facilities were involved in the study. The water treatment had a significant impact on reducing the numbers of particles. The numbers of fibre-shaped particles released were reduced by 65, 96 and 97% for the different facilities. This shows that waste water treatment at the laundry can be an efficient way of reducing the levels of particles released to the WWTP.

Purpose: The textile industry faces major challenges in reducing environmental impacts along the whole value chain. The overall aim of this paper was to assess the potential environmental benefit of a circular textile value chain, by evaluating a garment partly made from a chemically recycled cellulose carbamate fibre. The cellulose carbamate technology is a novel technology that turns cotton-rich textile waste into a cotton-like regenerated fibre. Methods: Life cycle assessment was performed to evaluate the environmental impacts of a garment made from the chemically recycled fibre, considering the whole life cycle. The evaluation also considered that the garment was part of a take-back system, meaning that the garment is collected for recycling after consumer use and thereby helps in closing the loop of the circular textile value chain. The focus of the assessment was on climate impact, water scarcity impact and land use impact. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses were included to test parts of the European Commission’s product environmental footprint method, e.g. the impact of applying the circular footprint formula. Results and discussion: The results showed that using a recycled cellulose carbamate fibre over primary conventional cotton showed benefits in all considered environmental impact categories; compared to organic cotton, the benefits were also shown for the land use impact category; the cradle to gate processes were the main hotspots for the garment’s life cycle, meaning that using a recycled feedstock is not the only measure needed to reduce environmental burdens;  the use phase, and in particular using the garment to its full life length, is crucial for mitigating the environmental impact per garment use; and methodological choices related to the use of recycled feedstock, and sending materials to recycling at end-of-life, affect the outcome of the study. Conclusions: Selecting a chemically recycled cellulose carbamate fibre over primary fibres showed environmental benefits for the evaluated garment, but there are however trade-offs between different environmental impact categories and fibre types. Furthermore, using recycled fibres is one important step in reducing the environmental concerns of garments, but it is important to also make improvements along the whole textile value chain. 

The fashion industry faces major challenges in reducing its environmental impacts along the textile value chain, from fibre production, via various processing steps, use phase and to the end-of-life stage. A major challenge is how to shift from the current linear industry to a circular one, where textiles are both sustainably produced, and after the full life length, recycled into new fibres with high value applications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the environmental impacts of post-consumer textile fibre-to-fibre recycling by cellulose carbamate technology, in terms of climate impact, water scarcity impact, cumulative energy demand and land use impact. By performing life cycle assessment, it was shown that the chemically recycled cellulose carbamate fibre has a climate impact of about 2.2 kg CO2-eq per kg fibre, water scarcity impact of 1.6 m3 H2O-eq per kg fibre, cumulative energy demand of 90 MJ-eq per kg fibre and land use impact of about 92 Pt per kg fibre (when applying mass allocation of co-products). Hotspots identified during the fibre production technology were electricity use and production of sodium hydroxide. In a sensitivity analysis, it was shown that the choice of electricity has a major influence on the results, and by using a renewable electricity mix over an average Finnish electricity mix, the impact could be decreased for all impact categories, except when using bioenergy, which would increase the land use impact. Compared to primary fibres like viscose and conventional cotton, these impacts are in the lower to middle range, showing potential to lower environmental impacts when moving towards an increased amounts of recycled post-consumer textile fibre with high value applications, that can replace primary fibres. 

Fluorinated durable water repellent (DWR) agents are used to obtain water and stain repellent textiles. Due to the on-going phase-out of DWRs based on side-chain fluorinated polymers (SFP) with “long” perfluoroalkyl chains, the textile industry lacks suitable alternatives with comparable material characteristics. The constant development and optimization of SFPs for textile applications initiated more than half a century ago has resulted in a robust and very efficient DWR-technology and textiles with exceptional hydro- and oleo-phobic properties. The industry is now in the predicament that the long-chain SFPs with the best technical performance have undesirable toxicological and environmental behaviour. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the technical performance of presently available fluorinated and non-fluorinated DWRs as part of a chemical alternatives assessment (CAA). The results are based on a study with synthetic outdoor fabrics treated with alternative DWRs and tested for repellency using industrial standard and complementary methods. Using this approach, the complex structure-property relationships of DWR-polymers could be explained on a molecular level. Both short-chain SFPs and non-fluorinated DWRs showed excellent water repellency and durability in some cases while short-chain SFPs were the more robust of the alternatives to long-chain SFPs. A strong decline in oil repellency and durability with perfluoroalkyl chain length was shown for SFP DWRs. Non-fluorinated alternatives were unable to repel oil, which might limit their potential for substitution in textile application that require repellency towards non-polar liquids.

To assess the effects of weathering on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from durable water repellent (DWR) clothing, thirteen commercial textile samples were exposed to elevated ultra violet (UV) radiation, humidity, and temperature in an aging device for 300 h, which mimics the lifespan of outdoor clothing. Before and after aging, the textile samples were extracted and analysed for the ionic PFASs (perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), perfluorooctane sulfonamide (FOSA)) and volatile PFASs (fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), acrylates (FTACs) and methacrylates (FTMACs)). Results showed that weathering can have an effect on PFASs used in DWR of outdoor clothing, both on the PFAS profile and on the measured concentrations. In most weathered samples the PFAA concentrations increased by 5- to more than 100-fold, while PFAAs not detected in the original textiles were detected in the weathered samples. DWR chemistries are based on side-chain fluorinated polymers. A possible explanation for the increase in concentration of the PFAAs is hydrolysis of the fluorotelomer based polymers (FTPs), or degradation of the FTOHs, which are used in the manufacturing of the FTPs. The concentrations of volatile PFASs also increased, by a factor up to 20. Suggested explanations are the degradation of the DWR polymers, making non-extractable fluorines extractable, or the transformation or degradation of unknown precursors. Further research is needed to unravel the details of these processes and to determine the transformation routes. This study shows that setting maximum tolerance limits only for a few individual PFASs is not sufficient to control these harmful substances in outdoor clothing.

To make outdoor clothing water- or dirt-repellent, durable water-repellent (DWR) coatings based on side-chain fluorinated polymers (SFPs) are used. During use of outdoor clothing, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) can be emitted from the DWR to the environment. In this study, the effects of aging, washing, and tumble drying on the concentration of extractable PFASs in the DWR of perfluorohexane-based short-chain SFPs (FC-6 chemistry) and of perfluorooctane-based long-chain SFPs (FC-8 chemistry) were assessed. For this purpose, polyamide (PA) and polyester (PES) fabrics were coated with FC-6- and FC-8-based DWRs. Results show that aging of the coated fabrics causes an increase in concentration and formation of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs). The effect of aging on the volatile PFASs depends on the type of fabric. Washing causes a decrease in PFAA concentrations, and in general, volatile PFASs are partly washed out of the textiles. However, washing can also increase the extractable concentration of volatile PFASs in the fabrics. This effect becomes stronger by a combination of aging and washing. Tumble drying does not affect the PFAS concentrations in textiles. In conclusion, aging and washing of fabrics coated with the DWR based on SFPs release PFASs to the environment.