Biodegradability of Cotton

Did you know the average American disposes of 70 pounds of textiles each year, according to the Council for Textile Recycling? If only about 10 pounds are donated, the remaining 60 pounds end up in landfills or other disposal environments.

Public awareness is growing of how textiles contribute to microfiber pollution. Since 2016, more than 6 million mentions of polyester, microfibers, and pollution have been made by the English-language media. Governments are banning certain single-use plastics. Consumers are demanding more sustainable alternatives.

Cotton Incorporated is dedicated to better understanding and communicating the impacts of supply chain and apparel decisions across the whole garment life cycle. Explore research on microfiber pollution in the environment, comparisons on fiber biodegradability in water and soil, and how natural fibers like cotton can play a role in the global solution to microfiber pollution.

Learn About

• Macroplastic and microplastic pollution
• Cotton’s biodegradability in water
  • Initial research
  • Latest findings
• Cotton’s biodegradability in soil

Ready to make a change? See biodegradable fabric alternatives and suppliers.

Macroplastic & Microplastic Pollution

Did you know apparel begins to break down in the wash?

Fabrics, both natural and synthetic, shed microfibers that enter into rivers, lakes, and oceans.

Research shows synthetic fibers contribute to plastic pollution in the earth’s water supply by shedding microplastics into waterways when laundered.²

Download the brochure: Understanding the Depth of the Plastics Problem.

What the Research Says

What goes into aquatic environments often ends up in the food we eat and the water we drink. In fact, there is now evidence of microplastics in every part of the food chain,⁵ including fish and water supplies around the world. Microplastics are tiny man-made fragments, fibers, pellets, or granules that are 5 mm or less in size.⁶

In the last four years, Adventure Scientists have collected over 2,677 samples in marine and freshwater systems globally, spanning every continent and ocean. The results indicate that microplastics are accumulating at a higher rate in marine systems (89% of samples) than in freshwater systems (51% of samples).⁶ This research provides one of the largest datasets that gives a representation of the scale of the microplastic pollution problem.

As the issue of microfiber and microplastic pollution continues to spread, consumers now often look to brands and retailers to make the next move.

Turning the Tides

Tackling Our Ocean’s Plastic Pollution Problem

Turning the Tides addresses the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans and presents a proposal to tackle this issue.

This webinar also presents updated research on the generation of microfibers in laundry, including cotton, polyester, and rayon.

Download Turning the Tides presentation slides.

Plastic-Free: Proving a Natural Solution

The European Commission adopted the world’s first comprehensive plastics strategy to decrease single-use plastics accounting for marine litter. This webinar covers this plastics strategy, legislative action against single-use plastic items and plastic fishing gear, brand and retailer awareness about the volume of microfibers in aquatic environments due to laundering of clothing, and alternatives to synthetic fibers and solutions to their effects on the environment.

Download Plastic-Free presentation slides.

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Biodegradability in Water: Cotton vs. Synthetic Microfibers

Initial Methodology & Results

To better understand how cotton biodegrades in water, Cotton Incorporated and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation in Australia teamed up with North Carolina State University. The study’s objective was to determine the degradability of various types of microfibers in a wastewater environment, examining the path of cotton and synthetic microfibers as they shed in the wash, enter waterways, and breakdown in water.

After 243 days, cotton had 76% degradation while the polyester fibers showed 4% degradation, which means cotton degrades 95% more than polyester in wastewater. The research further shows that cotton will continue to degrade over time, unlike polyester whose degradation plateaued after the time tested.

Cotton’s Biodegradability in Aquatic Environments

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara explain the science behind their research on microfibers.

This webinar also covers the problems microfibers pose to the natural environment.

Download Cotton’s Biodegradability in Aquatic Environments presentation slides.

Latest Research & Results

Polyester microfibers show very little degradation in all three aquatic environments and are expected to persist in the environment for long periods of time based on the data trend chart, shown at right.

In the cotton/polyester blend, the cotton degrades, leaving only the polyester after 20+ days. Cotton also degrades faster than artificial cellulosic fibers like rayon.

This methodology includes theoretical oxygen demand that considers carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen already present in the cotton structure.

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Cotton’s Biodegradability in Soil

While nearly all materials are subject to biodegradation eventually, the rate at which materials decompose varies greatly depending on their chemical make-up. Synthetic fibers like polyester biodegrade much slower than cotton. Cotton biodegrades relatively quickly because it is made of cellulose, an organic compound that is the basis of plant cell walls and vegetable fibers.

What you might not realize is that most polyester is made of polyethylene terephthalate, also referred to as PET, and more commonly known as the main ingredient in water bottles. So if you have ditched your plastic water bottle because of its environmental impact, consider how your polyester attire fares after it has left your closet.

Cotton’s Biodegradability in Various Environments

How quickly does cotton break down?

With a growing consumer market for wet wipes, there is also a growing concern in the nonwovens industry about the biodegradability of these single-use wipes. Recent studies evaluate cotton’s ability to biodegrade in a composting environment and in sewer and septic systems.

Download Cotton’s Biodegradability in Various Environments presentation slides.

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Natural, Biodegradable Fabric Alternatives

Cotton Incorporated has developed viable alternatives to synthetic microfiber fleece by creating cotton and cotton/wool blend fabrics designed to insulate and provide warmth while offering a natural, biodegradable option. The natural fibers shed from these fabrics easily break down in soil and wastewater environments.

To see the collection, contact your Cotton Incorporated Account Manager.

Suppliers

Many Cotton LEADS℠ partners provide various cotton/wool yarns and fabric developments in a range of blends and yarn counts, and can easily connect with your supply chain. Below is a list of suppliers who are currently offering cotton/wool products.

1. Environmental Health Perspectives

2. Microfiber Pollution and the Apparel Industry, Accumulation of Microplastic on Shorelines Worldwide

3. Plastic Pollution in the World’s Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea

4. World Economic Forum – The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics

5. Policy: Classify Plastic Waste as Hazardous

6. Adventure Scientists – Global & Gallatin Microplastics Initiatives

7. Primary Microplastics in the Oceans: A Global Evaluation of Sources