Waste textile processing and its impact on the environment

Abstract

The work is focused on mapping the current state of waste textile management, its possible further processing in the Czech Republic and its environmental impact assessment. More specifically, it deals with the topic of sustainability in the textile industry, textile waste in terms of legislation, and environmental impact assessment using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. Also, it maps the situation in waste management in the Czech Republic and makes comparison with data available for the European Union (EU). Data collection on textile waste management was performed. The data are further used in LCA analysis and waste treatment methods are evaluated in terms of environmental impact using GaBi software. The lowest environmental impacts are associated with the re-wearing of waste textiles. A secondary production of cleaning cloths, as well as disposal by incineration or landfilling, are more demanding for the environment. In comparison with data from other European countries, the efficiency of textile waste management ranks the Czech Republic to the forefront in the EU. The most beneficial and cheapest solution of the problem, not only in the management of textile waste, is to reduce the production of goods, the supply of producers, and strengthen market requirements so that waste is generated as little as possible. Then, there will be no need to seek a solution to dispose of excess waste.