Circular Economy of Textiles

Gary Halada wants to find innovative approaches to recycling and repurposing the clothes Americans throw away. Host Heather Lynch and Halada, associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, discuss the growing problem of textile waste globally. Halada shares his research on maintaining the valuable cotton fibers during recycling, creating sustainable building materials from recycled textiles, and the concept of circular economy. They also explore additive manufacturing (3D printing) as a more sustainable alternative to traditional manufacturing techniques.

Learn more with:

• Textiles: Material-Specific Data (EPA)

• Surface Analysis and Corrosion Science Laboratory at Stony Brook University

• Additive Manufacturing Materials, Prototyping and Applications Center (AMPAC) at Stony Brook University

• Nanotechnology Studies at Stony Brook University

• “Learning from Engineering Disasters” blog

• Muslin Composting Project at SUNY FIT

Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:

• 00:00 Textile waste in America

• 01:13 About C4E Presents podcast 

• 02:03 Explaining the circular economy concept

• 04:08 Recycling textile waste

• 05:58 Cotton recyclability

• 08:30 Cotton-poly blends 

• 09:15 Consumer guidance 

• 11:56 Chemical treatments and microfiber pollution

• 14:14 Additive manufacturing (3D printing)

• 23:44 Incorporating humanitarian values

• 25:08 Ethical obligations 

• 29:00 Energy needs, AI development, and climate uncertainty

• 32:58 Conclusion and about the next episode

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C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

Host: Heather Lynch

Editor: J.D. Allen

Producer: Rachel Lea 

Program manager: Jennifer Gilday