The consumption pattern of clothing and footwear is based on a model marked by the fast fashion phenomenon, which drives society to renew its clothing every season. This has led to an increase in the production of clothing and footwear, and consequently the generation of more textile waste. According to the European Environment Agency, per capita clothing consumption in the EU increased by 40% between 1996 and 2012, and worldwide the annual production of textile fibres is expected to continue to grow from 72.5 million tonnes in 2010 to 133.5 million tonnes in 2030, which will mean an annual per capita consumption of 15.5 kg. These figures are alarming, especially considering that 73% of textile waste ends up in controlled landfills or is incinerated, and that less than half of used clothing is selectively collected for reuse or recycling. In order to implement a circular economy model, the EU waste directive 2018/851 obliges member states (municipal administrations) to establish separate collection of textile waste by 2025. In Catalonia in 2020, the generation of textile waste was 165,933 t, with only 19,399 t, or 11.7%, being selectively collected. With the legislation, it is expected that these data will improve and, therefore, increase the possibilities of being able to reuse and recycle textile waste. As far as fibre recycling is concerned, the technology exists, but the process is not very competitive. Taking into account these limitations, this research proposes to study the use of ionic liquids as a technology to recover natural fibres (cellulose), and proposes to use these recovered fibres to obtain films for the packaging sector.
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