Pre-consumer recycling is the reclamation of waste materials that were created during the process of manufacturing or delivering goods prior to their delivery to a consumer. Pre-consumer
recycled
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
materials can be broken down and remade into similar or different materials, or can be sold "as is" to third-party buyers who then use those materials for consumer products. One of the largest contributing industries to pre-consumer recycling is the
textile industry
The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry.
Industry process
Cotton manufacturi ...
, which recycles fibers, fabrics, trims and unsold "new" garments to third-party buyers.
There are generally two types of recycling:
post-consumer
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
and pre-consumer. Post-consumer recycling is the most heavily practiced form of recycling, where the materials being recycled have already passed through to the consumer.
According to the Council for Textile Recycling, each year 750,000 tons of textile waste is recycled (pre- and post-consumer) into new raw materials for the automotive, furniture, mattress, coarse yarn, home furnishings, paper and other industries.
Although this amount accounts for 75% of textile waste in the United States, there is little research on textile excess produced in countries that play a larger role in global textile production, such as China, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Bangladesh.
See also
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Looptworks
Looptworks is a Portland, Oregon business that upcycles or re-purposes abandoned, pre-consumer and post-consumer materials into limited-edition products. By re-using the world's pre-consumer excess, the U.S.-based company aims to "break the cycle ...
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TerraCycle
TerraCycle is a private U.S.-based recycling business headquartered in Trenton, New Jersey. It primarily runs a volunteer-based recycling platform to collect non-recyclable pre-consumer and post-consumer waste on behalf of corporate donors or ...
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Upcycling
Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value ...
References
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Recycling