Zarna Sanghavi1 Dr. Juhi Agrawal2,
M.Des. (Fashion design) Student1 and Guide2
Sir Vithaldas Thackersey College of Home Science, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai.
Abstract
A major source of waste is the by-products generated during manufacturing processes and disposal of the products at the end of their life cycle. The textile industry involves various processes right from the spinning of yarns to the disposal of textiles. Each process adds to the waste generation in the textile industry. Environmental sustainability is the need of the hour that can be achieved by the 3 R’s i.e. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Textile waste can be of 3 types namely fibre, yarn, and fabric. All the 3 types of waste generated can be up-cycled or recycled to avoid it from ending up in landfills. This study is aimed to reuse the discarded waste yarns through up-cycling. Textile waste in the form of yarns was given a new lease of life by up-cycling. Recycling involves the destruction of waste to create something new, whereas upcycling takes waste and creates something new from it in its current state.
Keywords: Surface ornamentation technique, Upcycling, Waste yarns, Upcycled products.
Introduction
Pollution from textile waste has developed the most concern within the current situation because it is significantly disturbing the ecosystem of the world (Agrawal, R. and Sharan, M., 2015). The textile industry is amongst the foremost essential commodity industries (Kaur, B., 2014). The textile and clothing industries involve different processes right from spinning to the finishing of garments (Paras, M., Curteza, A., 2018). Textile production waste covers all those raw materials which are either accumulating or getting used within the textile industry like production remnants, waste from fibre and filament manufacture, and waste from spinning, weaving and knitting (Bhatia, D., Sharma, A., et.al., 2014).
There are different types of textile waste:
- Pre-Consumer Waste – Pre-consumer waste is a material that was discarded before it had been ready for consumer use. It generally refers to waste by-products from fibre, yarn, textile, and apparel manufacturing (Bhatia, D., Sharma, A., et.al., 2014). So, Pre-consumer textile waste is a clean waste (Modi, D., 2013).
- Production Waste – It consists of leftovers from garment manufacturing, like trimmings, proofs, leftover fabric, off-cuts, ends of rolls, etc. Production waste is the easiest material to use in upcycling because the quantity produced is usually quite large and regular (Modi, D., 2013).
- Industrial Waste – It is the waste that is generated within the manufacturing process.
- Post-Consumer Waste – The post-consumer textile waste consists of any sort of garment or household textile (such as sheets or towels) that the user doesn’t need and decides to discard, either because they’re tired, spoiled, outgrown, or have left out of fashion (Modi, D., 2013).
To overcome these problems textile industries have taken a major step in reducing the negative impact on the environment. Some such steps are:
- 3 R’s i.e. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – as a waste hierarchy which means waste generation should be prevented or reduced, and generated waste should be recovered utilising reuse, recycling, and other recovery options (Gupta, C., Vaid, N. et.al.) (Modi, D., 2013).
- Eco-fashion – It is also called sustainable fashion. It is a term that’s applied to clothing, footwear, and accessories that are either made up of recycled products or are made with little or no use of animal products but from fabric that comes from sustainable plant fibres. Eco-fashion can also apply to any of those forms of items that are made up of organic materials (Kaur, B., 2014).
- Upcycling – It is an incremental stage towards achieving zero waste (Teli, M.D., Valia, S., and et.al.). It is a movement to capture throwaway clothing and remake it into a special fashionable, wearable piece of clothing with greater value named as upcycling (Eladwi, M.M.T., Shaker, R., et.al.).
The significant waste generated in this sector is fibre waste, yarn spinning waste, off-cut waste, packaging, and during the wet finishing process (Agrawal, R. and Sharan, M., 2015). The textile industry uses techniques like the 3 R’s as methods to reduce waste and enhance it to new products. The Upcycling of clothes creates interest in consumers along with increasing the life of the product.
So, fabrics and garments are easy to upcycle and can be given a new life to the waste. The yarn waste comes under the pre-consumer as well as post-consumer waste. In this study, the waste yarns are post-consumer waste and used in packing and bundling materials. This minute waste is being neglected in this area.
Objectives
- To experiment with two different surface ornamentation techniques using waste yarns.
- To design and develop fashion products using waste yarns.
Review Of Literature
Chaturvedi I. and Khandelwal R., (2019) designed and developed embellished women’ tops using waste embroidered threads through the dissolving technique and hence the method proved to be a helpful alternative for the recycling of waste threads.
Wanassi, B., Azzouz, B., et.al., (2016) focused on reclaiming good quality fibre by recycling waste cotton yarns. The yarn wastes were collected from SITEX. The properties of these yarns were assessed using ISO standards. The yarns were dyed. The cost of the yarn was a sum of the raw material cost. The advantage of the recycled blended yarn was its reduced cost. However, it could still give the desired effect of denim fabric.
Methodology
The waste yarns were collected from different local grocery shops. After collecting the waste yarns designs were developed in different categories and then products were made.
Procuring Raw Material
The packaging of groceries is done in jute or plastic sacks. To seal up the open end of the sack from the top hand stitching is done with these yarns. When these sacks are opened in retail grocery shops, they unravel these yarns and they end up in waste. Then these waste yarns are segregated, knotted, and handmade lea is made. These leas are scoured with a mild detergent to remove dust and soil and kept for drying. Thus, these waste yarns are collected and used for the study.
Design and Development of Innovative Products using Waste Yarns
Various products were designed and developed in different categories like apparel, home furnishing, jewellery and personal use through surface ornamentation techniques like crocheting and embroidery. Different hand embroidery stitches and different crocheting techniques were used. There are four categories of upcycled products were developed are:
Apparel – Garment, Mask
Jewellery – Earring, Choker
Home Furnishing – Coaster, Cushion covers
Lifestyle Products – Laptop bags, handbags
Results
The information pertaining to the present study entitled “Upcycling of waste yarns into contemporary fashion articles’’ where waste yarns were collected from local grocery shops were scoured and then these waste yarns were used for the surface enhancement technique i.e. crocheting and embroidery techniques for making fashion products by the technique called Upcycling.
Conclusion
Upcycling is a process where waste products are converted into new materials of upper quality and a far better environmental value. It entails reconstructing textile materials to something new of greater value.
Textile waste is often classified as pre-consumer waste and post-consumer waste. In this study, post-consumer waste is used. The raw material used was waste yarns which are from packing and bundling materials generated in local grocery shops, Such waste is often ignored and neglected and ends up as waste. These yarns can gain a new life with the help of a technique called upcycling.
A surface ornamentation technique i.e. crocheting and embroidery technique is used to design and develop products in different categories. The objective of upcycling the waste yarns into contemporary fashion articles was successfully achieved. This innovation can in a small way help in reducing waste generation and thus, in turn, help the environment.
