Viscose is manufactured entirely from recycled materials

Viscose is manufactured entirely from recycled materialsRecycled

Viscose is made from wood pulp, usually from trees such as pine, beechand eucalyptus. The viscose manufacturing process involves melting wood and turning it into a pulp solution; The solution is then washed and bleached (bleaching), and then treated again to form viscose fibres. However, researchers at the Swedish University of Lund were able for the first time to manufacture viscose by recycling spent cotton textiles.

Consumed textile and clothing waste – as we know – constitute a heavy environmental burden, as thousands of tons of it end up in various ecosystems. It also takes centuries of time to decompose, and in the best cases it is burned, whether in an organized or unregulated manner. Therefore, many countries are seeking to find solutions to exploit this waste optimally. In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In a country like Sweden – which has a very cold climate in winter – waste clothing and textiles are exploited by burning them, and the resulting heat is used in central heating systems. However, Sweden has recently sought to find better alternatives for exploiting clothing and textile waste.

Textile recycling barriers

The process of manufacturing clothing and various textiles is a huge consumption of energy and resources such as water and soil, and results in a significant environmental footprint. Therefore, the first step in transforming this industry into sustainability is to reduce the production of clothing and textiles from virgin raw materials, and to rely more on recycling.

Although we know the path to manufacturing sustainable textiles, there are still many challenges ahead of us, which was confirmed by Edvin Bågenholm Roth, a doctoral student in chemical engineering at Lund University, who said: “The cellulose chains that we find in cotton – for example – are considered the main component of plant fibers, which we use in making many textiles. These chains are complex and long, and the textiles are intensively processed with dyes and other chemical additives, and at the end of their life cycle the textiles are dirty with dust and fats. All of the above are factors that make recycling cotton textiles difficult.”

To address these challenges, Roth and his colleagues devised a way to convert cotton fibers in consumer textiles into viscose fibers. Viscose, as we know, is sometimes referred to as artificial silk, and is a common component of clothing, especially women’s clothing, and is usually manufactured from cellulose chains found in many woods.

There are currently different types of viscose that are produced by recycling a percentage of spent cotton fibres. However, these types still require a high percentage of virgin viscose fibres. To ensure access to the required properties and specifications in the fabric, however, the new method was able to overcome this problem.

Promising results of the new method

The new method of spinning viscose yarn was tried on a small scale, and the results were excellent, which encouraged the researchers to publish the study, with plans to establish a pilot plant somewhere in Europe during the next few years.

The new method is characterized by being inexpensive, compared to the traditional method of producing viscose, as the process requires the use of a simple salt, zinc chloride, which can dissolve in water. Another advantage is the need for a lower percentage of carbon disulfide, a toxic substance that is more widely used in the traditional method of producing these fibers.

It is worth noting that the researchers at Lund University used white consumer cotton textiles in their experiments. This means that applying the same process to colored cottons will require adding a stage to remove the color, which they are currently working on developing. To avoid traditional bleaching processes, which require many resources.

Manufacturing process steps

The process of making viscose fibers from spent cotton textiles begins by placing these textiles in a solution of zinc chloride, and within one hour everything turns into a sticky mass, after which water is added; This results in the precipitation of a thin white mass known as “dissolved pulp”, which can then be filtered and separated from the liquid.

This refined pulp resulting from this process can replace wood pulp, which is currently widely used to produce virgin viscose fibres. In the next stage, the pulp is treated with a number of chemicals, including carbon disulphide; To make it soluble in sodium hydroxide solution, it will then be dissolved, then spun and cut to obtain viscose fibres.

To transform these experiments into a practical application, a private company was established to complete viscose production experiments with this innovative method, and those responsible for it hope to move to production on a commercial scale within a period ranging from five to seven years.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires all of us to think outside the box. To find innovative solutions, working to solve the most complex problems faced by humanity. In this article, we may have tried to shed light on one of these solutions, which can contribute – significantly – to achieving a number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)Sustainable Development, foremost among which are the ninth goal (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), and the twelfth goal (responsible consumption and production).