Recycled cotton
Also known as: Reclaimed cotton, Regenerated cotton
Cotton mechanically recovered from production waste and post-consumer textiles — saves water, CO₂ and farmland, mostly used in blends with virgin cotton or rPET.
Description
Recycled cotton is mostly derived from pre-consumer waste (cutting scraps from garment factories) and to a lesser extent from post-consumer textiles (used clothing). The material is sorted by colour, cut and mechanically pulled back into fibres in a shredding mill. Because the fibres are shortened significantly (to 5–15 mm instead of 25–35 mm), pure recycling yarns are not very strong — so the recycling share in warp yarns is rarely above 20–30 %, combined with virgin cotton or polyester/rPET.
Environmental impact: according to Textile Exchange, 1 kg of recycled cotton saves around 2,700 litres of irrigation water, 6.6 kg CO₂ equivalent and 0.5 m² of farmland compared with virgin cotton. Certification is provided via the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) or the Global Recycled Standard (GRS). Brands such as H&M Conscious, Levi's WaterLess or Continental Clothing use recycled cotton in T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies and denim.
- From pre-consumer cutting waste or post-consumer used textiles
- Short fibre — mostly blended with cotton or rPET (max. 20–40 %)
- Saves water, CO₂ and farmland
- Certificates: RCS and GRS
Properties
| Fibre type | Recycling fibre (cotton, mechanical) |
|---|---|
| Feedstock | Pre-consumer cutting waste, post-consumer used clothing |
| Fibre length | 5–15 mm (instead of 25–35 mm) |
| Savings | ~2,700 l water, 6.6 kg CO₂e per kg |
| Certificates | RCS, GRS |
Related product categories
Sources & references
1- Wikipedia: Cotton recycling Wikipedia — Freie Enzyklopädie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycled_cotton
