Recycling of textile wastes into textile composites based on natural fibres: the reinforcement type and the architecture

The textile composite materials market has witnessed an important growth in the past decades and is estimated to continue during the forecast period, according all statistics and trends. Since the last decades, the usages of various textiles composite materials in different applications have increased steadily, penetrating and conquering new markets, constantly. While textile composites are already proven to be weight-saving and high strength materials, the current challenge is to make these materials cost-effective by reducing the cost of different types of reinforcements (fibres, yarns or fabrics). The efforts to manufacture economically beneficial composite textiles have resulted in several innovative production techniques, currently being used in the area of the composites industry. Applications vary significantly in size and complexity, loading and surface quality, operating temperature, suitable production volumes and peculiar added value. The expanding choice of raw materials, in terms of the reinforcement type together with the matrix type, followed by many production techniques, gives impressive flexibility in manufacturing of textile reinforced composites. The aim of this work was investigation of the possibilities of reusing of textile wastes, especially the textiles derived from the packaging industry, as reinforcement in production of new added-valued composite materials.