Abstract: Recycling of waste textiles is an important way to reduce the pollution of the current textile and apparel industry. Recycling by the mechanical method is a means of recycling waste textiles. Opening waste textiles into spinnable recycled fibers as raw materials for various types of textiles has a wide range of applications and development prospects. In this paper, the life cycle of virgin cotton fabric and recycled cotton fabric is evaluated respectively and the main production processes that cause environmental impact are analyzed. Results indicate that the cotton plantation and printing and dyeing of the virgin cotton fabric have a greater impact on the environment. The comparative evaluation of these two kinds of fabrics shows that the recycled cotton fabric mixed with 20% recycled cotton fiber reduces environmental pollution by 34.6% compared with that of the virgin cotton fabric.

Key words: virgin cotton fabric; recycled cotton fabric; life cycle assessment; mechanical recycling