Environmental impacts ofcotton and polyester textile management strategies: Comparison of separatecollection for reusing and textile waste recycling

Abstract

The textile sector is among the most environmentally impactful, primarily due to waste generation and the large-scale production of low-quality garments designed for short-term use. Management policy efficiency is required to offset the global impact of the industry. In this study, T-shirts are selected as a representative product, and Italy is used as targeted area, being one of the leading countries in the textile production sector: while 50 % of separately collected textile waste is reused, less than 1 % is recycled, with the majority incinerated or landfilled. The present study applies a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impact of cotton and polyester T-shirts across production, distribution, use, and end-of-life phases. Four scenarios (Cotton Baseline, Polyester Baseline, Cotton Future, Polyester Future) investigate different waste management strategies, including increased separate collection and the inclusion of recycling. Results show that increasing textile waste separate collection rates from 14 % to 40 % and integrating recycling can significantly reduce environmental impacts, particularly fossil depletion (up to 24 %), climate change, and freshwater ecotoxicity, primarily due to decreased primary material demand. However, polyester recycling increases water depletion, highlighting the need for process efficiency improvements. The study also identifies traceability of data as a key issue due to complex global textile supply chains. Additionally, assessing end-of-life impacts beyond national borders is crucial, as the export of textile waste to regions with inadequate waste management could lead to underestimation of environmental and human health risks.