Register to read the introduction…
Chemically, polyester (or many esters) is primarily a family of polymers wherein the monomers belong to the category “esters”. The most commonly used polyester is the polymer of diglycol terephthalate and is called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Nylon is a group of polymers, which can be classified as polyamides. Today several types of nylon are produced with properties tuned to meet customer specifications. The most commonly used ones are nylon-6 (which is manufactured from caprolactam) and nylon66 (made from adipic acid and hexamethylene diamine). The special characteristics of manmade fibres combined with availability and cost factors have seen an enormous increase in their use in the global textile industry. Fibres consumption (and consumption of related goods) has been growing at an astonishing rate. Consumption per capita of fibres has been growing steadily passing from 3.7 kilos in 1950 to 9 kilos in 2002. The growth of manmade fibres in the textile industry has been phenomenal. Production of artificial fibres outnumbers natural fibres since the beginning of the 1990s. In 2002, natural fibres production was at 22.5 million tons against 33.6 for man made fibres. Table 3: World fibre production/Consumption per capita10 Year Natural Manmade TOTAL Population Consumption * ‘000 billion** kg / capita tons 2002 22.463 33.657 56.120 6,23 9,0 2000 21.504 31.147 52.651 6,08 8,7 1990 21.460 19.380 40.840 5,28 7,7 1980 15.227 14.301 29.528 4,46 6,6 1970 13.484 8.394 21.878 3,71 5,9 1960 11.607 3.367 14.974 3,04 4,9 1950 7.723 1.681 9.404 2,56 3,7 * Ramie, flax, hemp, jute, sisal and coir (fibre prepared from the husk of the coconut) not included. ** World population Comparing the domestic consumption patterns of fibres in India and China, two of the largest textile players on the global market, the imbalance is evident. In India, the textile industry covers a wide range of economic activities
…show more content…
During the same year, China's quantity per capita of processed chemical fibre reached 10 kg, much higher than the world's average. China's textile sector is predicted to achieve a 6.0% growth to take its total fibre consumption to 14.0 million tonnes by 2005 and its per capita fibre consumption from the 2001 level of 6.0 kg to 8.0 kg. In India, as yet there is no effort to quantify the overall environment impact of wet processing of man-made fibers, especially with respect to chemical components, processing formulations and the effluent produced from the process. It is known that pretreatment of cellulosic textiles is characterized by high consumption of chemicals, water, and energy along with great discharge of waster water. This is mainly due to carrying out pretreatment operations on separate steps with repeated washing operations after each step. Conclusion Clothes and other textiles can affect the environment to varying degrees throughout their life cycles. Before textiles reach the consumer, they have gone through many different chemical processes. They may be treated with chemicals to dye them, make them more hardwearing or wrinkle-resistant, or less flammable. Some of these chemicals are carcinogenic or may cause harm to children even before birth. Others may trigger allergic reactions in some people. Some flame retardants that are used in certain textiles contain organic bromine compounds that are persistent (break down very slowly in the environment). The use of some dangerous chemicals in textiles is restricted such as azo dyes and formaldehyde. All textiles processes have an impact on the environment. The industry uses large amounts of natural resources such as water, while many operations use chemicals and solvents. All companies use energy, produce solid waste, discharge effluent and emit dust, fumes, etc to the atmosphere. Many textiles companies are located in rural areas where environmental protection assumes
During the same year, China's quantity per capita of processed chemical fibre reached 10 kg, much higher than the world's average. China's textile sector is predicted to achieve a 6.0% growth to take its total fibre consumption to 14.0 million tonnes by 2005 and its per capita fibre consumption from the 2001 level of 6.0 kg to 8.0 kg. In India, as yet there is no effort to quantify the overall environment impact of wet processing of man-made fibers, especially with respect to chemical components, processing formulations and the effluent produced from the process. It is known that pretreatment of cellulosic textiles is characterized by high consumption of chemicals, water, and energy along with great discharge of waster water. This is mainly due to carrying out pretreatment operations on separate steps with repeated washing operations after each step. Conclusion Clothes and other textiles can affect the environment to varying degrees throughout their life cycles. Before textiles reach the consumer, they have gone through many different chemical processes. They may be treated with chemicals to dye them, make them more hardwearing or wrinkle-resistant, or less flammable. Some of these chemicals are carcinogenic or may cause harm to children even before birth. Others may trigger allergic reactions in some people. Some flame retardants that are used in certain textiles contain organic bromine compounds that are persistent (break down very slowly in the environment). The use of some dangerous chemicals in textiles is restricted such as azo dyes and formaldehyde. All textiles processes have an impact on the environment. The industry uses large amounts of natural resources such as water, while many operations use chemicals and solvents. All companies use energy, produce solid waste, discharge effluent and emit dust, fumes, etc to the atmosphere. Many textiles companies are located in rural areas where environmental protection assumes