Investigating the use of recycled fiber in tufted carpet production and its effects on carpet performance

Recycling is a concept that is gaining importance in the textile sector as in all sectors. Especially the recycling and reuse of synthetic fibres, which have a very long time to disappear in nature, has become mandatory for the future of the world. Within the scope of the study, it was aimed to investigate the possibilities of using recycled polyester (PES) and polypropylene (PP) fibres in tufted carpet production. Tufting carpet samples were produced in construction by using 1700x2 dtex recycled and original PP and PES yarns as pile yarn and a structure made of recycled PES fibres as base carpet. The thickness loss and resilience behaviour of the specimens under static load, thickness loss under dynamic load, abrasion resistance, degree of appearance retention and loop tensile strength properties of the specimens were then tested by standard methods. As a result, it was determined that recycled PES and PP fibres can be used in tufted carpet production and no significant change was observed in performance parameters. While the carpets produced from recycled PES and original PES yarns exhibited similar performance, it was determined that the recycling process in PP yarns caused some change in yarn properties.