In Australia, over 200,000 tons of clothing make their way to landfill every year! This number is astonishing, so the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) decided to explore ways to repurpose some of this discarded clothing. Their research team has created a new type of concrete, more durable and hardier, using an unexpected component – old fabric. They mixed regular concrete with discarded fabric fibers and the result was a sturdier, stronger, and crack-resistant cement.
The researchers created this “textile fabric – reinforced concrete” by mixing small, pre-cut fibers (12 mm in length) extracted from old clothes with wet cement. Normally, cement cracks while drying because it shrinks as the water evaporates. Textile fibers are flexible, and when these cracks start forming, the fibers go around the crack and absorb the stress, preventing the cracks from getting bigger. They reduce this cracking by almost 30%. It costs Australians 8 billion dollars annually to repair these cracks in reinforced concrete buildings and structures.
The team has tested a wide range of fibers, including synthetic fibers such as nylon, polyester, and polypropylene. They have also used almost 100% non-recyclable clothing, such as firefighter and military uniforms.
What started as an idea to manage textile waste has grown into a possible solution to manage carpet waste. Currently, no commercial recycling facilities in Australia accept carpets or rugs. Burning of carpets causes the release of various greenhouse gases and toxic chemicals, creating an environmental hazard. Dr. Chamila Gunasekara from RMIT university says that mixing carpet fibres with concrete is working. “Scrap carpet fibres can be used to increase concrete’s strength by 40% in tension and prevent early cracking, by reducing shrinkage substantially” he says.
Gunasekara’s team have partnered with various companies around Australia, such as Textile Recyclers and Godfrey Hirst. They are also working with local city councils in Victoria to test out larger chunks of this new concrete. “It can be a concrete slab on the ground, or maybe up to a 50-100m footpath,” said Gunasekara. They are also collaborating internationally with the University of Technology in Sweden.
Textile waste is a major problem not just in Australia but globally. An average Australian purchase 27 kgs of new clothing and textiles every year and discards about 23 kgs into landfill. Fabric and textile waste takes over 200 years to decompose. Discarded clothing can also clog gutters, triggering floods and water-borne diseases. Although this new concrete will not eliminate this problem in its entirety, it does offer a sustainable opportunity to reduce some of this waste.
References:
https://www.tradeearthmovers.com.au/carpet-waste-used-to-increase-concretes-durability/
https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/engineering/concrete-textile-waste-strength
https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2024/nov/carpet-concrete
https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/clothing-textile-waste-recycling-conrete-sustainability
https://www.theengineer.co.uk/content/news/discarded-carpet-fibres-make-concrete-more-durable
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/old-carpet-fibers-concrete-australian-engineers/