Cotton: a flow cycle to exploit

Abstract

The relation between agricultural resources, industrial activities and the environment has complex aspects because of many dynamic interrelationships. Among the sectors that are showing a certain environmental sensibility, there is the textile one, and particularly the cotton sector. Cotton is one of the most important non-food crops in the world. Its products are destined to different industries: textiles, food, chemicals and so on. In Italy, cotton cultivation encounters economic problems that makes its development quite difficult. In this paper, the development opportunities in agricultural and manufacturing processes are analysed in view of new trends that are characterised by sustainable life-cycle assessments.

Introduction

Cotton, included in the genus ‘Gossypium’¹, is economically the most important vegetable fibre. Botanically, the cotton fibres are the protective covering of the seeds in a cotton plant. The cotton fibre, in its pure form, and also in blends, is the principal clothing fibre of the world, accounting for about 50% of total world fibre production (Shariq, 1995).

Cotton fibre production depends on many factors, including soil productivity, climate², cost of production, market conditions, government programs, etc.

This paper analyses the biomass balance related to the cotton crop, and aims at underlining how it is possible to obtain a large variety of different products utilised in various fields from this interesting renewable resource.