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Textile Industry Insights Towards Impact of Regenerated Cellulosic and Synthetic Fibres on Microfibre Pollution

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Sustainability in the Textile and Apparel Industries

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to investigate a current topic that has received increased academic and media interest: microfibre pollution (MFP). It contributes to knowledge by exploring how microfibre pollution is defined from an industry perspective and what challenges and/or solutions are associated with it. This research is qualitative in nature and supports its findings with ten in-depth semi-structured expert interviews. Although this could be seen as a limitation, the chapter provides valuable insights that can be explored further in the future. Findings indicate that (1) MFP lacks a clear-cut definition and a key distinction between what is considered as problem and challenge, and (2) tackling MFP needs to integrate multiple stakeholders to take actions throughout the entire product life cycle. Implications identified concern current communication practices that provide both scientific facts and practical solutions.

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Correspondence to Songyi Yan .

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Yan, S., Jones, C., Henninger, C.E., McCormick, H. (2020). Textile Industry Insights Towards Impact of Regenerated Cellulosic and Synthetic Fibres on Microfibre Pollution. In: Muthu, S.S., Gardetti, M.A. (eds) Sustainability in the Textile and Apparel Industries. Sustainable Textiles: Production, Processing, Manufacturing & Chemistry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38013-7_8

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