Life cycle assessment of flame retardant cotton textiles with optimized end-of-life phase

Flame retardants (FRs) for textile products has been studied widely on the account of their production, but in order to consider a FR textile product eco-friendly, its end-of-life phase seems neglected and needs great attention. The purpose of this study was to expand and improve the end-of-life phase of FR textile products, by offering an eco-path and treatment prior to their disposals. An eco-path consisting of degradation and elimination of the FR substance from the textile product prior to its disposal is proposed. The degradation and elimination of FR from the textile product was achieved by advanced oxidation process (AOP). Finally, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to analyze the environmental impacts of end-of-life phase for FR cotton textile before and after the eco-path disposal treatment. LCA results showed the reduced impact values in most of the impact categories studied, especially in global warming potential (GWP), air acidification (AA) and in other prominent categories.