R principles for circular economy in the textile industry – a mini-review

Textiles are used by humans for many purposes, from clothing to technical applications such as geotextiles, agrotextiles, or medical textiles. However, in addition to their importance, textiles are also responsible for various types of environmental pollution along the entire textile chain, from production, transport and trade to daily use to their end-of-life. Here we provide a brief overview of current approaches to establishing R principles in the textile industry in order to transform the recent linear structures into a circular economy and show in which areas there is a particular need for research and action. Textiles are used by humans for many purposes, from clothing to technical applications such as geotextiles, agrotextiles, or medical textiles. Besides their importance, textiles are still responsible for diverse kinds of environmental pollution throughout the textile chain, from production to transport and trade, from daily use to their end-of-life. Here we give a brief overview of recent approaches to establish R principles in the textile industry as a way to transfer recent linear structures into a circular economy and show in fields especially research and action are needed.