An Alternative for the End-of-life Phase of Flame Retardant Textile Products: Degradation of Flame Retardant and Preliminary Settings of Energy Valorization by Gasification

It is well established that current flame retardant (FR) products at disposal generate various ecological hazards. Irrespective of their environmental impacts, the FR market is growing and is estimated to reach 2.8 million tons globally in 2018. In the textile domain, FRs are incorporated into baby clothing, pushchairs, car seats, etc. When disposed, these FR textile products end up in a landfill or are incinerated. These disposal processes are unsustainable. With landfilling, there is a huge chance of the FR product leaching into the environment. Similarly, FRs decrease energetic yields in the incineration process due to incomplete combustion. To cope with such issues, degradation and elimination of the FR product from the textile products before disposal could be a sustainable alternative. This study dealt with the preliminary degradation of flame retardant from the cotton textiles and its thermal characterization. Energy valorization by gasification is considered beneficial opposed to incineration with overall low energy recovery. The initial optimum gasification conditions including FR-treated cotton as a feeding material and potential outcomes of FR-treated cotton after degradation were characterized.