Definition
Post-consumer waste (PCW) refers to materials and products that are discarded as waste by the end consumer after their intended use and have exited the consumer cycle. Unlike production waste, these materials arise only after the complete use phase and have actually been delivered to the consumer. Typical examples in the textile industry include used garments, home textiles, and PET bottles after use. Post-consumer waste is considered a valuable secondary raw material, provided that suitable collection, sorting, and processing are ensured.
Use in the textile industry
In the textile industry, post-consumer waste is processed primarily through mechanical or chemical recycling into new fibers or yarns — for example, by shredding and re-spinning old textiles or by granulating PET packaging into recycled fibers. Recycled polyester fibers made from used PET bottles are a common example and are used, among other applications, for fleece fabrics, filling materials, and technical textiles. The quality of the resulting recyclates depends significantly on the purity and sorting quality of the collected post-consumer waste.
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