Flame retardants (FRs) have been around us for decades to increase the chances of survival against fire or flame by limiting its propagation. The FR textiles, irrespective of their atmospheric presence are used in baby clothing, pushchairs, car seats, etc. The overall FR market in Asia, Europe, and the United States in 2007 was around 1.8 million metric tonnes. It is estimated that the worldwide consumption of FRs will reach 2.8 million tonnes in 2018. Unfortunately, a sustainable approach for textile waste, especially in the case of FR textiles, is absent. Incineration and landfill of FR textiles are hindered by various toxic outcomes. To address the need for sustainable methods of discarding FR textiles, the mechanical recycling of cotton curtains was evaluated.

Renewable energy from thermal valorization plays a key part in today’s energy from natural cellulosic textiles that are resourceful biomass and safe from toxicity at high temperature treatments. The situation is opposite, when technical textiles are treated with synthetic chemical finishes adding functionality as anti-bacterial, water repellent or flame retardant, etc. Incineration of flame retardant textile results in possible unfavorable gases, toxic fumes and contaminated ash. Other thermal valorization techniques like gasification would assist in avoiding the formation of additional toxic hazards. Herein, gasification of flame retardant textile is carried out the likelihood to get quality gas composition. For comparative analysis, flame retardant textiles, after their flame retardant ability being revoked, are also gasified. The output gas components suggested that gasification can be a useful thermal valorization approach for flame retardant textiles and relevantly improved gas composition was seen in textiles with their flame retardant substrate/species being removed.

The hydrodynamics of a dyeing machine affects the exchange mechanisms between a textile material and the liquid medium to a large extent. Namely, the transfer of dyes and chemicals from the dyeing liquor and the release of non-bonded substances during subsequent rinsing steps can be altered by relative movement between phases. Such aspects have not been investigated thoroughly, although the typical approach of chemical engineering can offer a relevant contribution in this view. As a practical result, important benefits may follow in various operations of the dyeing process, aimed at optimising the equipment use or saving resources, in particular water. The attention of this study was focused on hank-dyeing machinery, since this production demands a considerable amount of water due to the large liquor ratios. The experimental study was carried out at a textile industry facility by operating on two units of equipment at significantly different scales. The rinsing operation was monitored by sampling the liquid at several positions along the vertical direction of the liquor: colour, conductivity and other chemical properties were measured in order to devise an optimal production policy aimed at saving water. A mathematical model of the equipment, based on a simple hydrodynamic hypothesis and proper mass balances, was proposed, and its outputs were compared with the experimental results. Both practical considerations and the theoretical analysis suggest that water requirement during rinsing can be halved by modifying the procedure without affecting the final quality of products.