# Opportunities and Limitations in Recycling Fossil Polymers from Textiles
###### Abstract  
The recovery and recycling of textile waste is becoming urgent since textiles are generating more and more waste. In one year, about 92 million tons of textile waste are produced and the fashion industry accounts for 58 million tons of plastic waste per year. Several different synthetic fibres are used in textiles, thanks to their excellent processability and mechanical properties, but on the other hand, the difficulties linked to their end of life and the release of microplastics from them during washing is currently a cause of great concern. In this context, policy actions have been aimed at promoting recycling of waste and replacing fossil-based fibres with biobased fibres. The current review, considering both scientific papers published on international journals and web sources, considers the sorting of textiles and the possible recycling of polyesters, polyamides and acrylics. Nevertheless, the contamination and presence of mixed fibres in fabrics is another issue to face for recycling. Methodologies to solve the issue linked to the presence of elastane, present in the stretch fabrics, as well as the possibility of recycling textiles in the non-woven and composite sector are investigated. Moreover, chemical recycling and enzymatic recycling of fossil polymers are also considered. Thanks to the comprehensive scheme of this review, it is possible to deduce that, while the use of biobased materials should rapidly increase in textile applications, the perspective of recycling materials obtained from waste textile into durable and/or high-performance products seems the most promising. t 16 February 2023  
14 April 20  
global clothes are recycled while 87% are incinerated or landfilled, due principally to the current exiguous development of recycling industrial chains [2; 3; 4]. It is necessary to transform the current linear economy, based on the taking, making and producing of waste, in a circular economy based on redesigning, reducing, reusing and recycling for zero waste [5; 6; 7]. Therefore, it is becoming urgent to organize a new productive model for making textile and fashion products based on a new eco-design production and at the same time to persuade consumers to make small and gradual behavioral changes [3; 4; 6]. The status of textile recycling and reuse in the world was surveyed by [PERSON] and coworkers [8] in 2014. Their data showed that 10% of the fibre waste in China, 12-13% in Japan and 15% of the fibre waste in the US was reused or recycled. In Europe, Germany is one of the pioneer countries where as much as 66% of the projected textile fibre turnover is collected and recycled or reused according to a report from BVSE, the German federal organization for secondary raw materials and disposals [9]. More recently, a material flow analysis (MFA) was applied to quantify textile streams and recycling prospects in Europe [10]. The MFA estimated textile waste, energy and CO\({}_{2}\)eq emission streams in Europe and determined that Europe has generated an amount of 2526-2791 kt of textile waste in 2018. In a high separate collection rates (HSCR) scenario it is possible to collect 1894-2093 kt and to reduce landfilling to 1%. Textile recycling consumes 4079815-4509260 GJ of energy in the baseline scenario. In the HSCR, CO\({}_{2}\)eq emissions could be reduced from 2,419,261 t to 2,025,876 t (\(-\)16%). This work evidenced the essential role of textile recycling as a way to enlarge fibre and commodity lifespans and convert fast fashion into slow fashion. Similar considerations were expressed by [PERSON] et al. [11], who additionally evidenced the need for harmonization of terminology, classifications, industry tools and standards to unify approaches and increase the interoperability of tools and resources. Moreover, a fundamental role can be played by broad, multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder collaboration. The manufacturing process of textiles consists of four primary stages: yarn production, fabric production, textile production and finishing treatment (Figure 1).