Microplastic Contamination in Recycled Fibres
topic
Microplastic contamination assessment in recycled textile fibres uses FTIR mapping of fibre cross-sections and melt-filtered chip samples to identify and quantify foreign polymer particles incorporated from mixed plastic feedstocks during melt recycling processes, providing contamination data relevant to fibre quality and potential increased microplastic shedding from recycled content textiles.
Role
Addresses the quality implications of recycled polymer contamination in mechanically recycled and chemically recycled textile fibres, where foreign polymer inclusions may increase microfibre shedding rates relative to virgin polymer equivalents, creating a potential circular economy trade-off between material recycling benefits and increased microplastic emissions.