Laboratory testing comparing recycled cotton pulp and conventional wood pulp during early stages of viscose manufacturing highlights differences in how the materials behave during key chemical treatment stages. The work evaluated purified cotton waste pulp alongside standard wood-based feedstock in the initial chemical steps that prepare cellulose for regenerated fibre production. The results suggest textile waste could function as an alternative input within existing viscose processing systems, highlighting a potential pathway for more sustainable textile production.
- The study compared pulped cotton waste produced from recycled textiles with conventional virgin wood pulp used as feedstock in the industrial viscose process.
- Researchers assessed how both materials behaved during the early chemical treatment stages that convert cellulose into a form suitable for spinning regenerated fibres.
- The work explored whether cotton waste pulp could provide a viable raw material pathway for fibre-to-fibre recycling within existing viscose manufacturing systems.
- The findings are reported in the paper ‘Comparing swelling and liquid retention of pulps from textile waste and conventional dissolving pulps’, published in Cellulose in January 2026.
THE STUDY: Researchers examined how cellulose recovered from discarded cotton textiles behaves compared with wood-derived pulp traditionally used as feedstock in viscose manufacturing. The research compared recycled cotton pulp with conventional wood pulp during the initial processing stages of the viscose route, examining how both materials behave during the chemical treatments that prepare cellulose for fibre regeneration.
- The study used purified cotton pulp produced from recycled textile waste and compared it with conventional virgin wood pulp used in industrial viscose production.
- Researchers examined how both materials behaved during early viscose-processing stages that convert cellulose into a form suitable for regenerated fibre spinning.
- The comparison evaluated how differences in fibre structure and other material characteristics influence the first steps of the viscose production pathway.
- The work also investigated selected material properties to explain why cotton-derived pulp and wood-derived pulp behave differently during processing.
- The recycled cotton pulp used in the research was sourced from Circulose, a commercially produced cellulose pulp made from discarded cotton textiles.
- The paper was authored by E. Meurs, S. Antonsson, G. Carlsson Kvarnlöf, G. Henriksson and H. Håkansson, affiliated with Karlstad University, Circulose AB and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
INDUSTRY CONTEXT: Comparative testing examined how recycled cotton pulp and conventional wood-based dissolving pulp behave during the early stages of viscose processing, focusing on swelling behaviour, liquid retention and pressability. Although both materials are primarily composed of cellulose, differences in fibre structure and other material characteristics influence how they respond during the chemical treatments used to prepare cellulose for regenerated fibre production.
- Both cotton-derived and wood-derived pulps consist largely of cellulose, the polymer required to manufacture regenerated cellulosic fibres such as viscose.
- Despite this chemical similarity, variations in fibre structure and other material properties influence how each pulp behaves during the multi-stage viscose production process.
- Laboratory experiments compared how recycled cotton pulp and conventional wood pulp reacted during the first chemical treatment stages of viscose manufacturing.
- The results showed that cotton-based pulp can proceed through these early processing steps under conditions comparable to those used for conventional wood pulp.
- Globally, the textile industry produces about 132 million tons of fibre each year, although the research paper notes that roughly 1% of current cotton fibre production comes from waste cotton.
- Cotton production contributes roughly 25 million tons of fibre annually, although the research paper itself cites a figure of 24.4 million tons for global cotton fibre production.
- The findings indicate that recycled cotton waste could potentially serve as an alternative feedstock for viscose production, although further investigation into fibre morphology and processing behaviour remains necessary.
