Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials

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Comprehensive review on sustainable fiber

reinforced concrete incorporating recycled textile
waste

Nghia P. Tran, Chamila Gunasekara, David W. Law, Shadi Houshyar, Sujeeva

Setunge & Andrzej Cwirzen

To cite this article: Nghia P. Tran, Chamila Gunasekara, David W. Law, Shadi Houshyar, Sujeeva
Setunge & Andrzej Cwirzen (2022) Comprehensive review on sustainable fiber reinforced
concrete incorporating recycled textile waste, Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials,
11:1, 28-42, DOI: 10.1080/21650373.2021.1875273

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Published online: 29 Jan 2021.

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Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials, 2022
Vol. 11, No. 1, 28–42, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21650373.2021.1875273

Comprehensive review on sustainable fiber reinforced concrete incorporating recycled

textile waste
Nghia P. Trana , Chamila Gunasekaraa
, David W. Lawa, Shadi Houshyarb,
Sujeeva Setungea and Andrzej Cwirzenc
a
Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia; bManufacturing,
Materials and Mechatronics, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia; cCivil, Environmental and Natural
Resources Engineering, Lulea University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden

Abstract. The deposition of textile waste into landfill has reached an unsustainable level and raises serious
environmental issues across the world. Transforming textile waste into fiber reinforcement in cementitious composites
offers a sustainable resolution toward a circular textile economy. This article presents a comprehensive review of
environmental concerns, recycling routes for textile waste, together with an in-depth review of the engineering
properties of concrete incorporating recycled textiles. In general, the incorporation of these recycled fibers from textile
waste enhances strain capacity, crack control, durability, and energy absorption of concrete via dual effects: bridging
action (direct mechanism) and refinement of pore distribution (indirect effect). An improvement in compressive
strength can be achieved by the utilization of a small dosage of recycled fibers or recycled fiber fabrics in concrete
(strength < 40 MPa). Finally, the cost and environmental benefits for eco-efficient building application are also
evaluated to draw the attention of researchers toward these potentially recyclable waste materials.
Keywords: textile waste; fiber recycling; textile concrete; engineering performance; sustainability

1. Introduction environmental consequences, such as biodiversity loss, soil

The global demand for textile-based products has acceler-
ated over the past decades, driven by the high rate of
population growth and socio-economic changes [1].
Excessive textile production to fulfill the ever-increasing
demands pertaining to throwaway culture has resulted in
high levels of textile waste disposal [2]. Globally, textile
recycling only accounted for around 13% (12% for mech-
anical and 1% for chemical recycling), while the rest is
disposed of in landfill or incineration [3]. Across the
European Union, post-consumer textile waste is recorded
at roughly 16 million tons each year; however, only 10%
of this waste is recycled by industrial enterprises, a further
8% is reused by charitable organizations, while the rest
are placed in landfill or combusted [4,5]. In the United
States, over 16.22 million tons of textile waste is gener-
ated annually, which is either recycled (16.2%), discarded
in landfills (64.5%), or incinerated with energy recovery
(19.3%) [6]. Furthermore, it is estimated that 3 million
tons of textile waste are discarded in landfill each year in
Australia [7]. Two-thirds of this waste is made of syn-
thetic fibers, derived from petroleum sources [8]. The
exponential accumulation of waste, especially non-bio-
degradable fossil-based textile, poses severe risks to the
environment for the future generation as well as generat-
ing significant impacts in relation to the economy, health,
and society.
Textile manufacturing itself involves numerous inten-
sive cultivation and extractive practices that trigger greater
degradation, and water scarcity [9–11]. During textile man-
ufacturing, textile wastewater – a major pollutant of toxic
emission containing hazardous chemicals from multiple
processes, is considered a severe global environmental pol-
lution problem owing to its adverse impacts on aquatic
plants, animals, and human health [12–14]. The Ellen
MacArthur Foundation [15] assessed the resource usage
and greenhouse gas emission of global textile-related
industries in which a multitude of resources was employed,
comprising freshwater resources (93 billion cubic meters),
greenhouse gas emission (1200 million tons), dyestuff (1
million tons), and chemicals (42 million tons). These
annual global figures have been anticipated to increase by
more than 50% by 2030 [16]. Recently, the CO2 emission
level in the textile industry has also increased to become
the second most polluting sector, contributing to one-tenth
of the world’s carbon emission throughout its entire life-
cycle from production to disposal [7,17].
Over the past two decades, synthetic fibers have
gained increasing attraction for utilization worldwide,
Figure 1(a), owing to their high durability, functionality,
and versatility in various applications [19]. Producing tex-
tile products made of man-made fibers, nonetheless, cre-
ates higher environmental impacts than natural-fibers-
based items [20]. In terms of CO2 equivalent of each type
of textile fibers, Figure 1(b), Beton et al. [20] concluded
that polyacrylic generated the most polluting impacts on
the environment, with 35.7 kg CO2 eq released per 1 kg of

Corresponding author. Email: gunasekara@rmit.edu.au

This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21650373.2022.2077884)
ß 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
 Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials
Figure 1. (a) Global fiber consumption [18] and (b) Equivalent CO2 emission of different fiber-based fabric production [20].
fabric, followed by polyamide (30.9 kg CO2-eq/kg), poly-
ester (27.2 kg CO2-eq/kg) and polypropylene (PP)
(26.5 kg CO2-eq/kg).
Additionally, regarding natural fibers, the decay of cel-
lulose-based synthetics and protein-based fibers in anaer-
obic conditions existing in landfill could produce both acid
leachates and highly toxic gases at a rapid rate, causing
adverse effects to both terrestrial and aquatic environments
[9]. For petroleum-based synthetic fibers, it could take sev-
eral hundred years to decompose, raising pressing issue for
waste management as landfill capacity limitation is
reached [21]. Building new landfills is deemed to be unrea-
sonable due to the increase of the socio-economic issues
related to high costs on the municipality, health impacts,
and the depression of property value of residential areas
surrounding its vicinities [22–24].
It is reported that the CO2 equivalent emission of land-
fill is higher than that of virgin fiber production
(89.7–700 kg CO2-eq/kg fiber vs. 0.4–86 kg CO2-eq/kg
fiber, respectively), indicating the recovery of textile
waste from landfill would significantly contribute to the
reduction in total greenhouse gas emission as well as
energy conservation [9]. The estimated energy savings of
recycling of nylon is 7203 kWh per ton, while energy
recovery from incineration is mere 1761 kWh per ton
[25]. To counteract the high use of natural resources,
energy consumption, and the volume of discarded textile
waste, a sustainable solution for the textile industries
across the world would be the reuse and recycling of tex-
tiles in alignment with the principals of developing a cir-
cular economy for service life extension, cost reduction,
and a carbon emission reduction [26–28].
In this context, downcycling textile waste for rein-
forced concrete in the building sector can provide mutual
benefits for both industries due to not only alleviating the
strain on the environment and socio-economic impact, but
also enhancing the properties of the cementitious material.
Moreover, recycling textile waste for building application
is more likely to facilitate a new kind of circular economy
where a new market for discarded textile can emerge to
fulfill the demand of users. In this way, it could contribute
to the broader transformation from the current linear econ-
omy to a circular economy.
2. Significance of review
Published research on the use of recycled fibers from vari-
ous waste sources in concrete has been reported over the
29
past two decades. However, reinforcing concrete with
recycled textile fibers has not gained appreciable attention,
and no systematic review was conducted to date. This
review article can thus provide a comprehensive under-
standing of the recycling of fibers from the textile waste
streams and significantly the engineering performance of
the recycled textiles in concrete. The reviewed results,
analysis, and discussion will be extremely useful to com-
prehend the behavior of recycled synthetic textile fibers in
cementitious concrete.
3. Recycled textile fibers from textile waste
3.1. Waste streams and recycling techniques
In the textile sector, textile waste generation primarily
occurs via three main stages; the early phase of the manu-
facturing process comprising combers noils; cut-offs, dis-
carded shearing (post-industrial and pre-consumer waste);
and the end of its useful life (post-consumer waste) [29].
The total waste quantity in the post-consumer waste
streams can come from either municipal, commercial, or
industrial sources, in which household items such as car-
pets, rugs, packaging, mattresses, and clothing contribute
a significant volume of waste generation [9]. According to
the technical report by Morley et al. [30], used carpet
accounted for the largest proportion of textile waste (65%)
in the United Kingdom in 2008. Meanwhile, in England,
discarded clothing, bags, and shoes made up 63.7% of
commercial municipal residual waste, as estimated in
2017 [31]. Additionally, the post-industrial waste in
Victoria, Australia alone accounts for 68% of all textile
waste disposed in state’s landfills [32]. The volume of
carpet alone in landfills in New South Wales, Australia
was equivalent to all apparel and clothing waste and
account for approximately 2% of total landfilled materi-
als [33].
Recycling post-consumer textile waste into a form of
discrete fibers is not a straightforward process as it varies
due to different types of fibers in use. In general, textile
waste is categorized and sorted according to their color,
types, and quality through Infrared or Raman spectros-
copy before going through a size reduction process to
moderate waste into smaller pieces [34,35]. Subsequently,
such waste can be transported to a rotary mill with
embedded blades, for breaking down the textile waste into
threads and fibers [9,36]. For complicated structures, such
as carpet waste, it necessitates the debonding of backing
layers by the use of steam, or water jet before opening of
30 N. P. Tran et al.
Figure 2. Classification of textile fibers based on mechanical properties.
the face yarn loop to avoid substantially damaging the
fibers shape [37,38]. In the chemical recycling process,
solvent extraction with either derivatized or non-derivat-
ized solvent has been used to dissolve and separate textile
fibers under pressure at high temperature (70–220  C)
[39]. The solution obtained, after filtering out solids, is
cooled, and precipitated [34]. For synthetic textile waste,
depolymerization into basic monomer/oligomer can be
employed, yielding high-quality output fiber with no ser-
ious degradation; nevertheless, this approach can be more
costly than the typical manufacturing route [35,40].
Moreover, a drawback of chemical recycling is the use of
chemicals, some of which are deemed to be toxic or non-
recyclable, thereby somewhat limiting the application in
practice. Regarding the thermal process (melting with
extrusion), a two-step process including melt spinning and
hot drawing is the most preferred technique for thermo-
plastic fibers due to the highly-oriented molecular chains
and high crystallinity properties, as well as capability of
blending with virgin fiber to yield higher strength and
Young’s modulus [41,42].
3.2. Fiber characteristics and its applications in
building sector
Based on fiber characteristics, the textile fibers can be
classified principally into two groups (Figure 2): Low-end
fibers (i.e. low tensile strength and low elastic modulus
but ductile) and High-end fibers (i.e. high tensile strength
and high elastic modulus, but brittle). Although high-end
synthetic textile fibers, such as kevlar, carbon, and glass
have low elongation (less than 2%), they possess superior
mechanical properties having 2–5.6 GPa tensile strength
and 70–500 GPa elastic modulus [43]. They are generally
employed for special-purpose textile products, such as bal-
listic protection fabrics, flame-resistant apparel, and heat-
ing garments. A limited quantity of this textile waste
stream, however, may render it less attractive with regards
to downcycling for building application, compared to the
low-end fibers which make up the bulk of textile waste. In
low-end textile group, the alkali-sensitive fibers, such as
cotton, wool, silk, jute, or polyester, is prevalent to down-
cycling into thermal and sound insulating elements rather
than as reinforcing elements due to the lightweight charac-
teristics and their inherently high porous structure. Its
applications range from lightweight mats or panels with
relatively low thermal conductivity (0.031–0.495 W/mK)
[44,45], reinforced polymer composite [9,36,46,47] to
sturdy lightweight bricks and cement blocks in high
energy absorption [48,49].
The recycled low-end synthetic textile fibers, such as
nylon and PP have been used in reinforced concrete
(Figure 3(a–c)) due to their inherently good alkaline resist-
ance and superior mechanical properties. Table 1 presents
the recycled fiber characteristics of recycled PP and nylon,
which achieved two-third of the tensile strength and elas-
tic modulus of corresponding virgin fiber. Moreover, the
crimped geometry and the texture of mechanically-
recycled textile fiber is different from its virgin fiber, a
rough surface and coated layers/color particles can be
seen on the texture (Figure 3(d)).
4. Engineering performance of recycled textile fiber
reinforced concrete
In general, primary properties of concrete has shown
enhancement due to the inclusion of waste textile with the
fiber length (8–60 mm) and fiber volume fraction
(0.25–2%), as presented in Table 2.
4.1. Physical and mechanical properties
4.1.1. Workability
Mohammadhosseini et al. [67] investigated a concrete
mix containing 20 mm PPPP fiber from carpet waste
(l ¼ 20 mm and df ¼0.45 mm) with different volume frac-
tions ranging from 0.25% to 1.25%. The report showed
that the presence of recycled PP carpet fiber in concrete
matrix significantly reduced the slump by 38.1%, 66.7%,
and 88%, corresponding to 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1.25% of
fiber volume content in comparison to a control mix with
no fibers. A substantial decrease in workability was
recorded at 0.5% fiber content with a two-thirds reduction
in slump compared to the control and twofold compared
to that of the mixture containing 0.25% PP fibers.
Moreover, Awal et al. [63] observed a decline of 27.3% in
slump value in samples containing 0.5% carpet fiber
(l ¼ 30 mm and df ¼ 0.45 mm) compared to a control con-
crete. Qin et al. [54] examined and compared the incorpor-
ation of recycled nylon fiber fabric and virgin nylon fiber
in concrete at 0.1% fiber dosage. Although a decline in
slump was observed for both fibrous specimens in com-
parison to the control sample, the degree of decrease dif-
fered insignificantly compared to each other. Qin et al.
[52] further reported that a reduction in slump of virgin
PP fiber was higher than that of recycled PP fiber fabric at
 Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials
Figure 3. Recycled textile fiber used in concrete: (a) Polypropylene fiber from carpet waste [50], (b) Nylon fiber fabric from fab-
ric waste [51], (c) Polypropylene fiber fabric from fabric waste [52], and (d) SEM image of recycled Polypropylene fiber tex-
ture [50].
Table 1. Recycled textile fiber characteristics.
Specific Tensile Elastic
Textile gravity strength modulus
composition (kg/m3) (MPa) (GPa)
Polypropylene 910 200–450 1.2
[53,54]
Nylon 6,6 [55] 1140 285 5 19
the same dosage (0.1%), being 61.8 and 52.9%,
respectively.
4.1.2. Density
Despite the incorporation of lightweight recycled textile
fibers in concrete, their effects on weight reduction are not
large due to the relatively low volume content of fiber
(less than 2%). The density of concrete containing carpet
waste fiber (c ¼ 0.94 g/cm3) varied between 2150 and
2328 kg/m3 corresponding to a fiber volume fraction used
ranging from 0.5% to 2% [63]. However, the addition of
recycled PP fiber, with a density of 0.91 g/cm3, in a range
of dosages between 0.25% and 1.25% produced negligible
change in the density of concrete, with the density varying
between 2295 and 2335 kg/m3 [65]. Other investigations
have noted a decrease in density of concrete incorporating
0.1% of recycled PP and nylon fabric fibers of 1.3 and
0.66%, respectively [54,52]. Meddah and Bencheikh [60]
also observed similar results in which the increasing add-
ition of textile waste fibers from storage bags led to a
decline in concrete density. The maximum decrease of
unit weight of concrete containing 1% of recycled fiber
was recorded at 4%.
4.1.3. Compressive strength
The inclusion of recycled textile fibers tends to show an
adverse effect on compressive strength when incorporat-
ing a high fiber dosage (Figure 4). Awal and
Mohammadhosseini [65] reported a constant decrease of
compressive strength with an increase in fiber dosage. A
drop of 21.3% in compressive strength was reported cor-
responding to the use of a high fiber content of 1.25%,
compared to the control concrete strength of 47 MPa at
28 d. Similarly, a declining trend in compressive strength
was observed with an increase in the addition of recycled
carpet fibers, although there was a negligible difference in
compressive strength noted between 1% and 1.5% fiber
31
Melt
Elongation at point Water
break (%) (oC) interaction
18.5 165–170 Hydrophobic
258 Hydrophilic
content [63]. Similar findings were reported in literature
[59,61,75], in which using a higher dosage of textile waste
leads to a reduction in compressive strength of
the concrete.
However, the opposite was reported by Wang et al.
[59] in which the compressive strength of concrete was
improved with an increment of fiber dosage. In particular,
the compressive strength of specimens incorporating
0.07% of recycled carpet fibers was recorded at 20 MPa;
meanwhile, compressive strength increased to 27.6 MPa
corresponding with an increase of fiber to 0.47%. Xiaoxin
et al. [73] reported that the use of low dosage of recycled
fiber, in the range from 0.08% to 0.16%, and long fiber
length could slightly improve the compressive strength of
concrete. A 0.12% fiber content achieved the optimum
compressive strength, 40.12 MPa for 12 mm length and
41.47 MPa for 19 mm length, while that of plain concrete
(PC) was recorded at 39.8 MPa. These findings were cor-
roborated by Qin et al. [54], in which concrete containing
0.1% of recycled nylon fabric fibers (l ¼ 30 mm,
w ¼ 4 mm) was observed to have better performance in
respect of the compressive strength and energy absorption
capacity compared to virgin nylon fiber reinforced con-
crete (NFRC) and PC. The average peak load at an early
age (14 d) was recorded as 10.74% and 5.37% greater
than that of NFRC and PC, respectively. A similar phe-
nomenon was observed by Qin et al. [52], in which
recycled PP fiber fabric displayed 6.15% higher compres-
sive strength than the non-fibrous concrete (15.11 MPa).
4.1.4. Splitting tensile strength
The splitting tensile strength of concrete was improved
with the addition of waste fiber content [63]. The results
indicated that the use of 1.5% fiber dosage in concrete pro-
duced the greatest splitting tensile strength (2.9 MPa),
which was 31.8% higher than that of control concrete.
With the further addition of fibers, the splitting tensile
strength tended to diminish despite still being 18.2% higher
Table 2. Mechanical properties of recycled textile fiber reinforced concrete and mortar.
32

Splitting/
Sources of Compressive tensile Flexural Elastic
Textile textile Fiber Volume strength strength strength modulus
Author composition waste dimensions fraction (MPa) (MPa) (MPa) (GPa)
Wang et al. [56,57] Nylon þ PP Carpet L ¼ 12–25 mm 1 and 2% 40.7  61.8 – 4.1  4.35 –
Wang et al. [58,59] Nylon þ PP Carpet L ¼ 12–25 mm 0.07  1.4% 17.4  27.6 – 3.64  4.2 –
Meddah and Bencheikh [60] PP Bags L ¼ 30, 50, 0.5%, 0.75%, 20  29.5 – 4.5  8.8 –
and 60 mm and 1%
Ghosni et al. [61] Nylon þ PP Carpet L ¼ 2 mm 1% 56 5.5 6.2 –
Ozger et al. [62] Nylon 6,6 Carpet L ¼ 5 mm 0.5% 39 3.9 – 36
D ¼ 41 mm
Awal and Mohammadhosseini PP Carpet L ¼ 30 mm 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 25.5  34.1 3  3.5 4.4  6.2 25  28.5
[63,64] D ¼ 0.45 mm and 2%
Mohammadhosseini et al. PP Carpet L 20 mm 0.25%, 0.5%, 37  44.2 3.2  4.05 4.15  5.55 25  27.5
[53,65–71] D ¼ 0.45 mm 0.75%, 1%,
and 1.25%
Girardi et al. [55] Nylon 6,6 Carpet L ¼ 8 ± 3 mm 0.5% 34 – – 26
D ¼ 38–41mm
Xuan et al. [54] PP Carpet L ¼ 20–50 mm 0.1% and 0.5% 37.9  41.6 3.4  4.97 – –
Pei et al. [72] PAN þ PP Carpet L ¼ 19 mm 0.05%, 0.1%, 45  50 4  4.9 – 26  34
0.15%, and 0.2%
Qin et al. [51] Nylon Fabric L ¼ 30 mm 0.1% 34.6 – – –
W ¼ 4 mm
T ¼ 0.1 mm
Qin et al. [52] PP Fabric 0.1% 16.04
N. P. Tran et al.

L ¼ 30 mm – – –
W ¼ 3 mm
T ¼ 0.42 mm
Xiaoxin et al. [73] PP Carpet L ¼ 12 and 0.08%, 0.12%, 39.15  41.47 – 5.58  7.12 –
19 mm and 0.16%
Zareei et al. [50] – Carpet L ¼ 20 mm 1% 62.8 5.66 6.21 39.7
D ¼ 0.45 mm
Zhou et al. [74] PP Carpet L ¼ 12, 19, and 0.08, 0.12%, 38.5  43 3.4  3.63 – –
30 mm and 0.16%
PP: polypropylene, PAN: polyacrylonitrile.
 Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials 33

Figure 4. Compressive strength of recycled textile fiber concrete in several review studies.

Figure 5. Load-deflection behavior of recycled fiber concrete (50 mm recycled PP fibers extracted from bags) [60].

than that of control concrete samples. Mohammadhosseini
et al. [68] reported a similar observation: samples contain-
ing 0.5% and 0.75% of carpet waste fiber achieved the
greatest indirect tensile strength at the ages of 28 d with an
increase of 25.5%, and 26%, respectively, over that of con-
trol samples. Moreover, addition of 1% recycled carpet
fibers increased the splitting tensile strength of Portland
cement mortar and concrete by 9.45% [54] and 9% [50],
respectively.
4.1.5. Flexural strength
A similar improvement to that of the indirect tensile
strength has been observed for flexural strength.
Incorporating 0.12% of recycled fibers in recycled aggre-
gate concrete increased flexural strength by 27.2% and
43.5% when adding 12 and 19 mm-length fibers, respect-
ively [73]. Moreover, Awal and Mohammadhosseini [65]
noted that up to 0.75% of recycled fiber volume fraction
in concrete enhanced the flexural strength, however, a
reduction was observed with further addition of fiber con-
tent. Mohammadhosseini et al. [53] also reported that 9%
flexural strength increase was noted when adding 0.5%
recycled fibers in concrete, however, further addition of
fibers was observed a reduction. Similar findings have
been reported by other researchers [50,54,61].
4.1.6. Elastic modulus
Due to the lower elastic modulus of fiber itself in compari-
son to that of concrete, elastic modulus of the fiber-rein-
forced cementitious composite tended to reduce
corresponding to increasing fiber usage. The inclusion of
recycled carpet fibers had a negative influence on the elas-
tic modulus of concrete [50]. The report showed that the
incorporation of 1% recycled carpet fiber (l ¼ 20 mm,
d ¼ 0.45 mm) caused about a 6% reduction in the elastic
modulus in comparison to the control sample. This is in
agreement with other research which reported that the
elastic modulus of recycled fiber concrete was lower than
the non-fibrous mix [63]. A constant decrease in elastic
modulus was reported to directly relate to the increase in
fiber dosage used in concrete, with the reduction of 11.5%
corresponding to 1% of fiber content [65]. A similar elas-
tic modulus decrease was reported by Ozger et al. [62]
34 N. P. Tran et al.
Figure 6. Restrained shrinkage stress and strain at the initial cracking [73].
and Girardi et al. [55] when adding 1% recycled
nylon fibers.
4.1.7. Post-crack performance
Meddah and Bencheikh [60] observed pseudo-strain-soft-
ening behavior of concrete containing various recycled PP
fiber lengths (30, 50, and 60 mm). They stated that the
improvement of toughness and post-crack performance
was proportional to the increase of fiber volume fraction,
and shorter fibers (i.e. 30 and 50 mm) tended to display
higher toughness indices. In general, after reaching the
yield stress point (first peak), there was a decrease in load
followed by a short hardening period with a second peak.
However, the samples containing 1% of 50 mm-length
fiber experienced strain-hardening behavior, maintaining
higher residual strength beyond the first peak load to reach
its ultimate strength at nearly 10 kN (Figure 6). Ozger
et al. [62] performed the crack tip opening displacement
(CTOD) test on concrete containing 0.5% of recycled
nylon fiber extracted from waste carpets (l ¼ 8 ± 3 mm,
d ¼ 38–41 mm). Although the load reached a peak at a cor-
responding CTOD of less than 0.02 mm, the ductility of
the specimens had considerably improved, compared to
control concrete.
4.1.8. Impact resistance
The inclusion of 20 mm-length recycled PP fibers signifi-
cantly improved the energy absorption of the concrete
through enhancement in both first-crack and post-cracking
resistance [53]. The results revealed a threefold increase
in the number of blows until the presence of the first crack
in samples containing up to 1% fiber volume fraction,
compared to that of the control samples. Increasing the
fiber dosage in concrete to 1.25% exhibited higher impact
resistance, with an increase in the number of blows by
367%, corresponding to higher energy absorption which
was recorded at 2279.6 and 2951.3 kN.mm for both first
crack and post-cracking failure, respectively. Xuan et al.
[54] also found that recycled carpet fiber exhibited a posi-
tive effect on impact resistance for mortar after exposure
to elevated temperature.
4.2. Durability characteristics
4.2.1. Water permeability
The addition of small fiber dosage reduced water absorp-
tion in comparison to unreinforced mixes [66].
Specifically, it was reported that the water absorption cap-
acity decreased from 4.15% to 4.05% with an increase of
recycled PP fiber content up to 0.5%. Further addition of
fiber was associated with an increase of water permeabil-
ity as well as the presence of voids. These results are in
agreement with the study of Zareei et al. [50]. This
reported that the inclusion of 1% carpet waste fiber
(l ¼ 20 mm, df ¼0.45 mm) increased water absorption
rates by 16% over that of the non-fiber counterpart.
4.2.2. Chloride penetration
Similar to the water permeability, Mohammadhosseini
et al. [68] demonstrated that an increase in recycled PP
fiber dosage up to a certain threshold value could signifi-
cantly decrease chloride penetration. The optimal fiber
dosage for the lowest depth of chloride diffusion (14mm)
was recorded at 0.5% by volume, being 27% lower than
that for PC at 91d. The use of quantities less than 0.5%
recycled PP fiber in concrete effectively reduced crack
growth and porosity within the microstructure, resulting in
a decrease in chloride penetration.
4.2.3. Acid and sulfate resistance
Long-term durability of concrete containing carpet waste
fibers under two aggressive environments (5% H2SO4 and
10% MgSO4) was investigated by Mohammadhosseini
et al. [67]. The result indicated a relatively good level of
 Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials
resistance to the acid attack, in which the inclusion of car-
pet waste fiber proportionally mitigates the spalling and
expansion-induced cracking induced by the formation of
expansive ettringite and gypsum over a 365 d period.
Concrete containing 0.5% of carpet waste fiber had the
lowest strength loss (3.7 MPa) under a MgSO4 environ-
ment. Meanwhile, the lowest mass loss of 5.3% and
strength loss of 20.7 MPa, after exposure to H2SO4, was
reported as corresponding to the inclusion of 1.25% of
carpet waste fiber.
4.3.4. Carbonation
The effect of carpet waste fiber content, 0.25–1.25%, on
carbonation depth has been examined [66]. The results
showed that carbonation depth decreased with the use of
less than 0.75% fiber content. At 180 d, the carbonation
depth was recorded at 0.52, 0.50, and 0.56 mm corre-
sponding to 0.25%, 0.5%, and 0.75% fiber volume frac-
tion, which was lower than 0.60 mm for control concrete.
Meanwhile, a higher fiber dosage (beyond 0.75% fiber
volume) was associated with a higher depth of carbon-
ation penetration; for instance, an average carbonation
depth of the mix containing 1.25% was 0.90 mm, 54%
higher than that of the non-fibrous control sample.
4.2.5. Shrinkage and cracking
Wang et al. [56] compared the effects of both virgin PP
(l ¼ 19 mm) and recycled PP carpet fibers (l ¼ 12–25 mm)
on drying shrinkage. The results indicated that the inclu-
sion of recycled fiber was associated with a reduction in
drying shrinkage of concrete in comparison to the control
sample, with the percentage of decrease varying by
15–30% at 21 d. The authors also noted that drying
shrinkage of concrete containing 2% of recycled fiber was
similar to that of specimens incorporating 0.5% of virgin
PP reinforced concrete. However, Awal et al. [63]
observed the opposite trend with the inclusion of 30 mm
length recycled carpet fibers in concrete with high fiber
dosage (0.5–2%). The 534.6 microstrain of drying shrink-
age noted in concrete with 0.5% fiber content, which was
9% higher than that of control concrete shrinkage, 490.44
microstrain.
On the other hand, several studies reported benefits in
shrinkage mitigation with the incorporation of recycled tex-
tile fibers with a shorter length (i.e. less than 20 mm) in
concrete. Xiaoxin et al. [73] tested the free and restrained
drying shrinkage of concrete containing recycled PP fiber
with two lengths (12 and 19 mm), and three-volume frac-
tions (0.08%, 0.12%, and 0.16%). The results indicated
that 19 mm-length recycled carpet fiber showed better per-
formance in shrinkage resistance than those of shorter
length. The shrinkage rate of concrete containing 0.12% of
19 mm-length recycled fiber was the lowest, having 30.2%
and 9.72% lower than that of control samples at 10 and
150 d, respectively. They found that a fiber dosage of
0.16% had the least impact on shrinkage mitigation regard-
less of a change in length (12 and 19 mm). Recently,
Mohammadhosseini et al. [69] also corroborated the
35
findings. The authors [69] investigated the effects of carpet
waste fiber (l ¼ 20 mm, df ¼0.45 mm) with dosage varying
from 0.25% to 1.25% on drying shrinkage. The results
demonstrated that recycled carpet fiber-reinforced concrete
had lower shrinkage strain than that of PC at all ages during
the investigating period. Specimens incorporating 0.75%
fiber volume content had the lowest shrinkage: that is
28.6% reduction in drying shrinkage strain compared to
plain samples at 365 d.
Furthermore, the addition of recycled carpet fibers
effectively prolonged the time until initial cracking
(Figure 6) and reduced both of the maximum and cumula-
tive crack width [73]. The results demonstrated good
crack-resistance performance for the fibrous concrete
incorporating either 12 mm-length fiber with a fiber con-
tent range in 0.12–0.16%, or longer fiber (l ¼ 19 mm)
with lower fiber dosages (0.08–0.12%). At the optimum
fiber volume fraction (0.12%), the samples containing
either 12 mm or 19 mm recycled fibers reduced the devel-
opment of total crack width, with a decrease of 22.3% and
15.5%, at 90 d compared to the non-fibrous sample. The
authors observed that the inclusion of 0.12% fiber content,
for both investigated fiber lengths, displayed the highest
crack resistance performance. This observation was also
in agreement with other studies [55,50].
4.2.6. Thermal resistance
Recent findings have illustrated the effectiveness of fiber
inclusion on the enhancement of thermal performance of
the cementitious composite. The presence of fibers in the
cement/concrete matrix improved the residual strength of
the whole composite at elevated temperatures.
Mohammadhosseini and Yatim [70] investigated the
residual strength of concrete incorporating recycled PP
fiber from carpet waste (l ¼ 20 mm, df ¼0.45 mm) at high
temperatures. In comparison to the control samples, a
lower residual strength in fibrous concrete was recorded at
below 200  C; however, an increase was observed at
higher temperatures, up to 800  C. They reported that
recycled PP fiber enhanced the resistance of concrete
against explosive spalling, caused by the build-up of
internal pores pressure at high temperatures. These find-
ings were in agreement with a study by Girardi et al. [55].
In this study at temperatures below 450  C, there was no
evidence of spalling with concrete containing 0.5%
recycled nylon fiber, whereas non-fibrous samples tended
to lose small pieces when only exposed to 150  C.
Furthermore, Ozger et al. [62] found that concrete contain-
ing 0.5% recycled nylon had higher heat capacity beyond
250  C compared with control concrete. The results
showed that the thermal conductivity of recycled nylon
reinforced concrete was always higher than that of unre-
inforced concrete at the different temperatures tested. For
example, at 300  C, the thermal conductivity of the former
was recorded at 1.16 ± 0.02 W/m.K, while that of the latter
was 1.02 ± 0.02 W/m.K.
It is known that at a temperature below 200  C, the
evaporation of both free and bound water leads to the sig-
nificant mass loss. These dehydration processes took place
36 N. P. Tran et al.
Figure 7. Porosity analysis using X-ray computed tomography: Recycled textile concrete incorporating 19 mm-length carpet fibers:
(a) control sample, (b) with 0.08% fiber, (c) with 0.12% fiber, (d) with 0.16% fiber [73].
during the first hour due to the evaporation of free,
adsorbed, and chemically bonded water before attaining
relative equilibrium after a few hours. In the investigation
of Ozger et al. [62], recycled nylon fiber with a hydro-
philic character was incorporated at approx. 0.5% by vol-
ume in concrete for thermal testing. At 150  C, the mass
losses of both the fibrous sample and control mix during
the first hour were 1.2% and 1.1%, and subsequently
plateaued at 1.3% and 1.5% after 4 h, respectively,
highlighting the effects of recycled nylon fibers in reduc-
ing weight loss at below 200  C. Similarly, the weight
loss of samples containing recycled PP fiber was 0.25%
lower than that of control specimens at 200  C [71]. The
exposure to high temperatures, that is 400  C, 600  C, and
800  C, induced a higher mass loss in the fibrous samples
than the control one due to the complete melting of the
fibers, with the discrepancy of 1% reported.
5. Discussion
The published literature has shown that the presence of
recycled textile (in form of fibers or fiber fabrics) in the
concrete matrix demonstrates a range of effects which sig-
nificantly influence the engineering properties of the con-
crete. The dispersed fiber network structure in concrete
influences the flowability. In particular, with a high fiber
volume content and a large surface area of fibers, it can
induce the absorption of cement paste by the fibers by
which the fibrous systems wrap around the paste. Hence,
the viscosity of the concrete mixture increases and results
in a considerable reduction of workability as opposed to
the non-fibrous mix [67,76]. Also, the hydrophilic nature
of recycled nylon fibers or hydrophilicity of PP waste
fiber treated by NaOH solution can trigger water absorp-
tion in the fiber during mixing, rendering the concrete
mixture stiffer [54,55]. Likewise, the inclusion of recycled
textile fibers was observed to influence the mechanical
performance of concrete via the dual effects comprising a
direct effect through bridging action and an indirect
impact on the porosity distribution throughout the matrix.
5.1. Impact through porosity distribution and
pore system
The presence of recycled carpet fibers refined the internal
pore systems by subdividing macropores into mesopores,
hence increasing the quantity of smaller pores in the mix-
ture. In particular, the experimental results by Xiaoxin
et al. [73] indicated that the inclusion of waste fiber
improves the uniformity distribution of the pore structure
into finer pores, while the total pore volume remained sta-
ble (Figure 7). This is beneficial in indirectly reducing
cracking, since a non-uniform pore structure can lead to
uneven-shrinkage-induced internal stresses in the micro-
structure of concrete, and hence cracks arise. Additionally,
the presence of these recycled fibers could also contribute
to the interruption of moisture transfer from the internal
microstructure of cementitious matrix to the external
environment, thus moisture loss as well as drying shrink-
age is reduced.
However, the use of a high dosage of waste fibers,
beyond an optimum dosage threshold is prone to cause
the non-uniform dispersion and agglomeration of the
fibers inside the matrix. This phenomenon disturbs the
compactness and consolidation of the granular skeleton;
hence, it triggers the formation of voids and the permeable
pore networks (entrapped air and voids) in the cementi-
tious matrix [50,60]. Consequently, a reduction in the
quality in the pore systems negatively affected porosity-
dependent properties, such as compressive strength, dry-
ing shrinkage, water permeability, carbonation, and chlor-
ide resistance, as observed by several authors [50,61,66].
More importantly, fiber agglomeration could also weaken
the interfacial transition zone within the matrix, making
this area vulnerable to tension stresses from internal or
external forces [50]. This adverse effect would thus also
decrease the stress-resistance capacity for the first crack-
ing [73].
Furthermore, recycled carpet fibers can improve the
pore structure, by the mitigation of harmful pores, includ-
ing capillary and gel pores, at elevated temperatures of
300  C and 500  C [54]. In the initial stages of exposure to
high temperatures, mass loss of fibrous concrete is higher
 Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials
Figure 8. SEM micrographs of a recycled fiber-matrix interface: (a) after 28 d of wet curing at 25  C, (b) after exposing to high
temperature at 350  C [62].
than that of PC due to the dual phenomenon of fiber melt-
ing and evaporation of absorbed water in the fiber itself.
However, this trend is reversed when concrete exposed to
the elevated temperatures. It is due to the interconnected
porosity left by burned and melted fibers permitted the
migration of gases toward the low-pressure areas and into
the atmosphere, thus leading to a drop of internal pore
pressure and thus prevents spalling (Figure 8) [55]. The
consolidation of melted fiber in liquid form enables the
pores to gain a more dense microstructure after exposure
to high temperatures, which in turn, contributes to
improved residual strength [70]. The hygroscopic nature
of the fiber induced a slowdown in the release of absorbed
water due to the fibers moisture-retaining ability, resulting
in a lower mass loss over time [62].
5.2. Impact of bridging action (energy
absorbing mechanism)
Energy absorption by recycled fibers through bridging
action is the major mechanism which provides the
improved mechanical capacity of the concrete and coun-
teracts the sudden failure of the concrete (Figure 9(a)).
The increase in impact resistance, splitting tensile, and
flexural strengths, as reported in the reviewed studies, was
ascribed to the mechanism by which fiber bridging across
the crack surface absorbed the stress-induced energy from
the neighboring matrix, providing enhanced residual
strength and load-bearing capacity. Specifically, tensile
stresses could be impeded by the shear stress along the
fiber-matrix interface (Figure 9(b)), which determines the
crack development and minimizes the coalescence of
cracks from the micro-scale to the macro-scale. When
cracks initiate, the recycled fiber network systems provide
a bridging action against crack propagation throughout the
matrix by the transmission of the tension stress concentra-
tion at the crack tip, across the microcracks, and between
the crack faces. Thus, the mechanism contributes to the
reduction in the number of cracks and the average crack
width [73]. Also, Xuan et al. [54] noted that although the
presence of recycled textile fiber in the concrete could
increase the interface area between fiber and matrix, the
benefits of the bridging effects, together with rough surfa-
ces of the recycled fiber can effectively curb the initiation
of microcracks at this weakest zone.
37
Furthermore, the efficiency of the bridging action is reli-
ant on the orientation of these recycled fibers against the
stresses; otherwise, the fiber reinforcements will function as
voids. The improved post-peak performance was ascribed
to the lower percentage of recycled fibers (10–20% of total
fibers) with a perpendicular orientation to the stress [60].
Moreover, with proper orientation of fibers in the matrix
against the shear plane, the fiber itself could effectively take
up the shear stress, especially at a 45-degree angle, resulting
in an improvement of compressive strength. Based on the
results from the reviewed studies, this effect is more evident
with the addition of small fiber content to concrete (strength
< 40 MPa) due to good fiber dispersion [51,52,73].
Furthermore, through this bridging action, fiber fabric with
a complicated woven textile structure exhibited outstanding
energy absorption capacity against shear stress (59 times
larger than that of nylon fiber with a simple linear structure),
resulting in higher compressive strength (Figure 10).
The bonding strength between fibers and the matrix
contributes to the effectiveness of the energy absorption
capacity. It was observed that due to the hydrophilic
nature of nylon, absorbed water on the fiber surface could
facilitate further hydration of cement particles at the inter-
face, forming a strong bond in the cement/concrete matrix.
Through this strong interfacial bond, higher energy
absorbed by recycled nylon led to the enhancement of
post-crack performance of concrete [62]. Energy surface
evaluation conducted by Schmidt and Cie
slak [77] also
demonstrated a strong bond between the concrete matrix
and nylon carpet fibers. Synthetic textile fiber with a
hydrophobic nature, such as PP, has a tendency to form a
weak bond with the concrete matrix (Figure 11). Thus, the
failure mechanism is typically by fiber pull-out which can
significantly affect the energy absorption capacity to con-
trol crack propagation in interfacial areas [53].
To improve the interfacial bond, fiber dosage is a cru-
cial factor to ensure the homogeneous distribution of fibers
throughout the matrix by providing sufficient contact area
between the fiber and the surrounding matrix. Recycled
carpet fibers from textile waste were considered to be more
efficient in improving the mechanical properties of mortar
than virgin PP fiber due to the weak interfacial bonding
between ordinary PP fiber and the cementitious matrix in
comparison to that of recycled PP fiber which has rough
38 N. P. Tran et al.
Figure 9. SEM micrographs of (a) fiber bridging action [53], (b) recycled fiber network in the concrete matrix [50].
Figure 10. SEM of fiber fabric-matrix interface and binding force of broken specimens [51].
surface characteristics [54]. Additionally, it was observed
that recycled fibers with longer-length achieved higher
strengths than short fibers. This is attributed to the high sur-
face area of individual long fiber facilitating greater adhe-
sion of the fiber-matrix bond in comparison to the shorter
fibers, resulting in better mechanical and post-
crack behavior.
6. Economic and environmental implications
Using recycled textile fibers can provide a beneficial
approach for both the textile and construction industries in
terms of environmental and economic aspects. Muthu et al.
[25] evaluated the recyclability potential of textile fiber
through an Economic Gain Index (EGI), which derived
from the ratio of the price of recycled to virgin textile fiber
corresponding to the same types per ton in the market. The
calculated EGI for PP is 0.65, for PE is 0.64–0.73, and for
nylon fiber is 0.31–0.77, which indicated the cost-effective-
ness of recycling textile fiber rather than using virgin fiber.
Likewise, Ghosni et al. [61] stated that it could provide sav-
ings of $44–49 for each ton of carpet waste fiber, when
used in reinforced concrete. In particular, the publication
estimated that the annual average cost of landfill in United
States was around $61.5 per ton of textile waste, while the
total recycling cost for carpet waste was estimated to be
around $12.5–$17.5, which included the cost for purchasing
carpet waste ($5–$10) and shredding/preparation cost
(roughly $7.5). Moreover, recycled carpet fibers were
applied for floor slab, driveway, and walls in a real full-
scale project at the R&D Centre in Dalton, Georgia to dem-
onstrate the feasibility of such textile waste for concrete
reinforcement [59]. In the field experiments, the authors
observed that the incorporation of 0.47% of recycled carpet
fiber in concrete (designed grade of 28 MPa) showed no
balling or clumping effects, a reduction in shrinkage crack-
ing, and mechanical properties that meet the standard
specification.
Although the life cycle assessment (LCA) for recycled
textile in concrete is as yet under-researched, several stud-
ies highlighted a significant reduction in carbon emissions
and energy consumption associated with the recycling of
synthetic fiber. In particular, Yin et al. [78] compared the
LCA of three scenarios for producing virgin, domestic,
and industrial recycled PP fiber with equal output weight.
The report stated recycling PP fibers on an industrial scale
could save up to 50% of CO2-eq, 65% of PO4-eq, 29%
water use, and 78% less oil equivalent resources in com-
parison to the virgin PP fiber production. The domestic
recycled PP fiber offered the reduction of 32% CO2-eq,
27% PO4-eq emissions, and 67% less oil equivalent com-
pared to the production of virgin PP fiber.
Besides the low initial cost and environmental impact
from downcycling textile waste into concrete, long-term
cost-effectiveness and environmental benefits can also be
obtained over the service life. Greater durability of con-
crete incorporating recycled textile waste can contribute to
the moderation of maintenance expense or even CO2
emission by the disposal of demolition waste to landfill.
These promising sustainability outcomes along with
 Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials
Figure 11. SEM of recycled PP fiber-cement matrix inter-
face [53].
satisfactory performance render its application viable for
road pavement, bridge decks, floor slab, driveways, or
even 3D concrete additive manufacturing [65,79–81].
Another sustainable standpoint is recycling concrete
incorporating fiber at the end of its service life. Kunieda
et al. [82] evaluated the application of recycling to fiber
reinforced concrete and claimed that fiber removal from
concrete is not an onerous task. In this study, a recycling
process using jaw crusher with capacity of 38 ton/h was
used to crush 28-d fiber reinforced concrete, which
incurred less than 10% in weight loss. The results indi-
cated that the presence of fiber induced the fracture at the
interfacial transition zone between the aggregate and
fibrous matrix, which facilitated the reprocessing of good
quality recycled aggregate with less mortar attached to the
aggregate. It was also observed that crushed concrete of
sieve size less than 5 mm contained both mortar and fibers
separately. This can thus create an opportunity for recy-
cling aggregate and secondary fibers from recycled fiber
reinforced concrete in the future.
7. Summary and conclusions
Recycled PP and nylon fibers from textile waste are the
most commonly used in reinforcing concrete. Despite hav-
ing lower tensile strength and elastic modulus than virgin
fiber, the presence of these recycled textile fibers shows
significant improvements in strain capacity, crack and
impact resistance of concrete through dual effects: bridg-
ing action and refinement of pore distribution. Based on
the reviewed reports, the following main conclusions
drawn from this review study are:
 The use of high dosage of recycled fibers is in
relation to fiber agglomeration which causes the
formation of entrapped air and voids in micro-
structure, thereby diminishing concrete’s proper-
ties. The volume fraction at 0.5% shows optimal
performance over reviews.
 Incorporation of recycled PP fiber improves the
uniformity of pore structure, subdividing large
pores into smaller pores, which positively affects
the porosity-dependent properties such as com-
pressive strength, water permeability, chloride
penetration, and carbonation diffusion.
39
 The hydrophilic nature of nylon enables the for-
mation of a strong bond with the matrix; mean-
while, the hydrophobicity of PP fiber makes the
bonding strength at interfacial zone weaker.
 Marginal improvement in compressive strength
of concrete can be achieved with the inclusion of
small dosage of recycled textile fiber, with a
designed grade of concrete below 40MPa.
 Incorporation of recycled fiber fabrics, which
have crossing weave structure in warp and weft
direction, display better performance in compres-
sive strength and energy absorption capacity than
that of conventional single fibers.
 The presence of recycled carpet fibers provides the
residual strength and resistance to explosive spalling
induced by elevated temperature up to 450  C.
In addition, recycled textile fibers offer considerable
cost and environmental benefits toward sustainable devel-
opment and the circular economy. However, future studies
need to focus on lifecycle cost analysis, comparative eco-
nomic analysis, and even the effects of recycled textile
surface characteristics on bonding strength with the
cementitious matrix to strengthen the feasibility for such
potentially recyclable waste in eco-efficient building
application.
Acknowledgments
This research was conducted by the Australian Research
Council Industrial Transformation Research Hub for nano-
science-based construction material manufacturing
(IH150100006) and funded by the Australian Government, is
gratefully acknowledged.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Funding
This research funded by the Australian Government.
ORCID
Nghia P. Tran http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4654-0403
Chamila Gunasekara http://orcid.org/0000-0003-
2013-8720
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