The U.S. public increasingly recognizes the importance of facilitating the wise use of natural resources and protection of environment. This raises the need to reduce wastes by either recycling industrial materials or manufacturing products having enhanced biodegradation potential. This will eventually benefit the textile, chemical, agricultural business sectors, and also rural economies. In the United States, environmental responsibility is becoming increasingly important to most major industries, including the textiles industry. Tighter restrictions, new regulations, and increased consumers' concerns have been critical in the development of new technologies, products, and trades that address the issues of environmental protection and human health.
Substantial evidence indicates that environmental concerns influence consumer purchases.
Meanwhile, industries are changing their attitudes by including environmental protection as one of the industries' new strategies. Thus, it is appropriate and timely to conduct the research on utilization of recycled polymeric materials and agricultural materials for textile end-uses. However, the textiles made of intimately blended polyester and cotton or rayon are difficult to recycle due to significant differences between physical and chemical properties of polyester and cellulosics. In the textile industry, byproducts that cannot be used in conventional processes are produced during manufacturing. If these remnants can be separated into shorter and open fibers, they can be blended with other fibers to produce cheaper textile products.