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Is Cotton Biodegradable?-Short Answer

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Cotton, being a natural product, is biodegradable. Biodegradation is the chemical dissolution of materials by bacteria or other biological means. This means that cotton will decompose whether it is added to a compost pile, bin, or even left to rot naturally. Therefore, cotton has a remarkable advantage over a variety of synthetic materials: We do not have to worry about cotton contributing to landfill filling.

Is Cotton Biodegradable?
Is cotton a biodegradable polymer?
What fabric is biodegradable?
Is cotton biodegradable in water?

Biodegradability of Materials

A product basically disappears after it has undergone biodegradation, which is the chemical dissolution of materials by bacteria or other biological means. One of the most biodegradable fabrics you can have is cotton, especially if it is made entirely of cotton. Cotton may biodegrade in compost in as little as a week, but it typically takes 5 months.
The production of yarns and threads, which are then used to create fabrics for clothing and indoor and outdoor furniture, uses about 60% of the total cotton fibre that is harvested.
Some examples of biodegradable materials used in our daily life are listed below:

  • Paper
  • Fruits
  • Kitchen wase.
  • Sewage sludge.
  • Dead animals and plants
  • Wood
  • wool
  • Human Hair 

Are clothes biodegradable?

The majority of textiles and fibres are naturally compostable. However, if a piece of cloth is mixed with synthetic fabrics or covered in dyes and chemicals, it may take hundreds of years before it begins to decompose and blend with the environment. Consider the fabric cotton.

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Umair Javaid, PhD Student
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