The world has been facing a growing crisis in textile waste due to global population growth and improved living conditions, combined with a decrease in the life cycles of textile products. Textile recycling is one of the key aspects for reducing the massive waste problem generated by the fashion and textile industries. Despite the need to develop textile waste recycling industries, acceptable practical interim measures still need to be taken. Textile waste can affect people’s lives economically and environmentally. Producing apparel from natural or synthetic origin can produce pollutants and waste at each stage. In this review article, the effects of the fashion and textile industry have been studied from economic and environmental perspectives. The available technologies and methods for waste recovery and recycling at each stage have been studied, and the uses of products after recycling have been systematically investigated. Despite all the progress made in the waste recycling processes of the fashion industry, many deficiencies and challenges still need to be addressed. Among the most critical challenges are the large scale of industries, the problems of collecting and classifying waste materials, and the presence of contaminants including blends and chemicals. There is also need for more awareness among consumers about the importance of fiber-to-fiber recycling processes, because to date the progress in this field is out of proportion to its necessity. Overall, this article is a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding the current state of recycling and recovery in the textiles, garment, and fashion industries.

This article presents the design, manufacture and testing of a capacitive pressure sensor with a high, tunable performance to low compressive loads (<10 kPa) and a resolution of less than 0.5 kPa. Such a performance is required for the monitoring of treatment efficacy delivered by compression garments to treat or prevent medical conditions such as deep vein thrombosis, leg ulcers, varicose veins or hypertrophic scars. Current commercial sensors used in such medical applications have been found to be either impractical, costly or of insufficient resolution. A microstructured elastomer film of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) blend with a tunable Young’s modulus was used as the force-sensing dielectric medium. The resulting 18 mm × 18 mm parallel-plate capacitive pressure sensor was characterised in the range of 0.8 to 6.5 kPa. The microstructuring of the surface morphology of the elastomer film combined with the tuning of the Young’s modulus of the PDMS blend is demonstrated to enhance the sensor performance achieving a 0.25 kPa pressure resolution and a 10 pF capacitive change under 6.5 kPa compressive load. The resulting sensor holds good potential for the targeted medical application.

Pressure garments have been used prophylactically and to treat hypertrophic scars, resulting from serious burns, since the early 1970s. They are custom‐made from elastic fabrics by commercial producers and occupational therapists. However, no clear scientifically established method has ever been published for their manufacture from powernet fabrics. The earlier work identified the most commonly used fabrics and construction methods for the production of pressure garments by occupational therapists in UK burn units. These methods have now been evaluated by measuring the pressures delivered to both cylinder models and to human limbs using I‐scan^® pressure sensors. The effect of cylinder/limb circumference and the effects of the fabric and reduction factor used in pressure garment construction on pressures exerted have now been established. These measurements confirm the limitations of current pressure garment construction methods used in UK hospitals. These results were also used to evaluate the Laplace law for the prediction of interface pressures.