Paving the road to a circular textile economy with AI

Abstract

The textile industry has a detrimental impact on the environment and faces challenges to meet climate and environmental goals. The core problem is its linear system where only a small fraction of used garments is reused or recycled. To facilitate recycling of textiles, a sorting method is proposed that provides the necessary information about a garment to sort it into the appropriate recycling channel. Current methods have difficulties identifying garments polluted by chemicals used during dyeing and finishing which hinder recycling into new high-quality fibers. In this concept paper, the Circular Textile Intelligence (CRTX) project is outlined which addresses the central problem of linear structures in the textile industry. A spectroscopy and AI-based method for textile sorting will enable more informed decisions about optimal reuse and recycling channels, thus closing the loop. It will build upon a material database containing information about materials, textiles, dyes, finishings, and unwanted hazardous substances.