GLOSSARY OF TERMS

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Acetate ‑ A synthetic fiber used to make fabric with a silk‑like appearance which resist stretching and shrinking and are moderately absorbent.

Acrylic ‑ A man‑made fiber in which the fiber forming substance is any long chain synthetic polymer composed of at least 85% by weight of acrylonitrile units. Basic building blocks are natural gas and air.

Air knife -  A blower device that employs an air stream to push a selected material(s) off a conveyor.

Auto-tie - A device that automatically wraps a bale with a wire.

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Balance ‑ Proportion of warp to filling yarns. The more even the balance, the more durable the fabric.

Balbriggan ‑ A jersey, interlock, or ribbed knitted fabric made of cotton or cotton blends for the undergarment, t‑ shirt, or hosiery industry.

Banana Effect - The slight curving of a bale -- primarily due to inconsistent density -- that causes the denser bottom portion to swell, creating a trapezoidal bale shape that stresses the banding.

Banding - The material, usually wire or nylon, wrapped around bales to secure them.

Basis Weight ‑ The weight of a unit area of fabric (i.e., ounces per yard).

Batting - Produced by a garnett machine which combs cotton and other fiber binders into a continuous web or layer. Several such layers combined are called cotton “batt”. For compressed cotton felt, thick layers of garnetted cotton fiber are mechanically compressed to reduce body impressions.

Blend ‑ Two or more fiber types combined in making yarn or fabric.

Broadcloth ‑ Closely woven fabric with same count of yarns in both directions. Generally made of cotton, but can be made of silk, rayon, wool or blends.

Baler -  A machine used to compress and bind secondary materials for storage and shipment.

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Conveyor -  A mechanical device used to move materials.

Calendared Fabric ‑ A process of pressing fabric between rollers or plates to smooth and glaze.

Calendaring ‑ Process of pressing fabric between rollers or plates to  smooth and glaze.

Carding ‑ A process of opening and cleaning fibers — usually cotton — which separates fibers from each other, lays them parallel and condenses them into a singular continuous untwisted strand, called ‘‘slivers.’’

Cellulose acetate pad - Woody fiber compacted into a pad and used as a insulator. May be glued or sandwiched between plastic netting to help hold it together.  

Cellulose Fiber ‑ Fiber derived from many vegetable and plant sources including cotton, wood, ramie, and hemp.

Chambray ‑ A plain weave fabric one color warp yarn and a white fill yarn.

Chino ‑ All‑cotton twill fabric made of combed two‑ply yarns.

Chintz ‑ A plain woven fabric with a glazed finish.

Combed ‑ A process for removing short fibers and impurities from carded cotton.

Compacted Knit ‑ A knit fabric where shrinkage is reduced by mechanically forcing the loops together in a vertical direction.

Conjugate polyester fiber - Spirally crimped fiber that is crimped chemically rather than thermally. Is very durable and resilient.

Corduroy ‑ A ribbed pile fabric.

Cotton felt - See Batting.

Cotton linters - The short fibers adhering to the seed after the long staple fiber has been removed in the ginning process. Used in making cotton felt.

Cotton pickers - “Fall out” from ginning or garnetting. These shorter staple cotton fibers are blended with linters to produce cotton felt.

Cuttings ‑ Small scraps of fabric knit or wovens, generally a by‑product of the apparel manufacturing process.

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Denim ‑ A durable twill fabric, most popular in indigo blue or natural white.

Duck ‑ A course woven fabric made of cotton blends or synthetics of a heavier weight yarn

Double Knit ‑ A circular knit fabric of double thickness.

Double-ram baler -  A baler with a separate ram for compressing recyclable material against a fixed wall and a second ram for ejecting the finished bale (also see single-ram baler).

Downstroke baler - A baling device in which the compression ram and platen move vertically in the chamber.

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Fabric ‑ A sheet structure made from fibers, filaments or yarns.

Fales pad - Compressed cotton felt that is stitched together to better retain compression.

Felt ‑ A fabric made of matted fibers, generally wool or fur, bonded together through the action of heat, moisture, chemicals and pressure.

Fiber ‑ A slender elongated natural or synthetic filament capable of being spun into yarn.

Fiber pad - Usually refers to man-made or natural fibers (wool, silk, etc.) that are garnetted, needled, carded and/or bonded together.

Fibroin ‑ Insoluble protein comprising the filaments of raw silk fiber.

Flannel ‑ A soft, absorbent napped fabric produced by revolving wire brushes which raise to the surface of the fabric the short fiber ends of spun yarn.

Fleece ‑ A soft deep‑piled knitted or woven fabric.

Flock ‑ A very short fiber primarily used in coating paper, fabric, plastic and other objects.

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Garnetting - A mechanical process whereby short cotton fibers and/or other fibers are combed into a specific orientation and formed into a thin web, which are then layered to create a batting used as an upholstery material. See cotton felt.

Grain ‑ The directions in which the threads composing the fabric run.

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Hazardous Waste - Solid waste that exhibits one of the four characteristics of a hazardous waste (reactivity, corrosivity, ignitability, and/or toxicity) or is specifically designated as such by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Huck (huckaback) ‑ An absorbent durable fabric of cotton, linen or both used chiefly for towels.

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Interlock ‑ A single knit chain stitched fabric that is smooth on both sides.

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Jersey ‑ A single knit fabric characterized by chain stitch in the face and courses on the back.

Jute ‑ Glossy fiber of the linden family used chiefly for making burlap and twine.

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Knapped Fabric (napped) ‑ A fabric whose surface fibers have been raised by mechanical means, thereby producing a softer, more compact fabric that usually provides greater warmth (example; flannel shirts, blankets, etc.).

Knives -  the attachments in granulators and shear shredders that perform the cutting or shearing action.

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Landfill - An area where trash is disposed, then buried beneath a layer of earth.  Landfills are usually equipped with a liner to reduce soil and water pollution from contaminating seepage, thus the term “sanitary landfill.”

Linen ‑ A durable, absorbent fabric made of flax.

Lint ‑ Particles of short fibers that fall off a fabric product during the stresses of use.

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Machinery Waste ‑ Machined cotton wiping and polishing waste.

Manerial-tie - Equipment requiring use of manual labor to wraps bale or bundle with wire or strapping.

Materials recovery facility (MRF) -  A term commonly used for a facility that sorts and processes mixed recyclables.

Mill Ends ‑ Pieces of textiles of various lengths, most often ranging from 1/4 yard to full rolls, originally from mills, manufacturers, and other sources.

MRF or Material Recovery Facility - An intermediate processing center that sorts recyclables collected from municipal recycling programs to prepare them for processing into marketable industrial feedstocks for subsequent manufacturing processes.

Multi-Bin Baler - A vertical baler that has more than one charge box in order to process different types or grades of material.

Muslin ‑ A woven fabric natural of color cotton made of cotton or cotton blend.

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Needlepunched fabric - A manufacturing process for which high strength, lightweight, non-woven construction fabrics are produced. These fabrics are produced by garnetting fibers, entangling or inner-locking these fibers together by a series of needles and then mechanically bonding or fusing them together via heat to produce a fabric without glue or binders.

Needlepunched pad - A manufacturing process used to produce insulator pads and non-woven fabrics whereby loose, garnetted fibers are inner-locked by a series “needles”. This process usually requires additional bonding to keep the fibers in place.

Noils ‑ Short fiber removed during the combing of a fabric.

Nylon ‑ A heat sensitive man‑made fabric characterized by stain resistance and low water absorbency.

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Olefin ‑ A non‑absorbent man‑made fabric with excellent elasticity and resiliency.

Oxford ‑ Group of cotton fabrics made with modified plain of basket weave.

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Percale ‑ A smooth finely combed woven sheeting with a minimum thread count of 180 threads per square inch.

Picking belt  A conveyor and work stations used in the manual sorting of secondary materials from a solid waste or recyclables stream ( also see sorting deck).

Pile ‑ Soft, thick textured fabrics such as terry, corduroy and velvet, resulting from changing tension in the warp to create loops.

Plain Weave ‑ Simplest and most common type of weave in which the yarn in both the warp and filling directions run  alternately over one and under one of the yarns it crosses.

Polypropylene ‑ A fiber obtained from polypropylene gas, a by‑product of oil refining.

Poplin ‑ A fabric with a fine rib effect on the surface because of a finer warp yarn than woof yarn.

Post Consumer Textile Waste ‑ Usually defined as textile waste from the home; this could be used or worn clothing, bed linens, towels, etc., that can be collected and recycled.

Pre‑Consumer Textile Waste ‑ This is waste produced from textile, apparel manufacturing process. It can be mill‑ends, scraps, clippings, or goods damaged during production.

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Rag Sorter ‑ A company that grades post consumer textile waste by product, condition, or material content. At this stage, textile waste is converted from scrap to raw materials.

Ram - A guided, hydraulically-driven flat plate that exerts pressure on the material in the charge box.  Also called a platen or plunger.

Rayon ‑ Smooth, highly absorbent man‑made fabric made from cellulosic material.

Recycled Clothing - Clothing, including textile consumer goods and apparel, that has been discarded by consumers, charitable institutions and retail establishments, and that have undergone a discriminating process of sorting, grading and separation into waste-free products is suitable for reuse.

Recycling - A resource recovery method involving the collection, separation, and processing to specification of scrap materials and their use as raw materials for manufacture into new products.

Remnants ‑ Usually refers to short lengths of textiles that are full width or ‘‘selvedge to selvedge’’ (similar to mill ends).

Roll Goods ‑ Fabric rolled up on a core. Measured in terms of weight and width of the roll as well as length of material on the roll.

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Scrap Processor or Recycler - Someone who, from a fixed location, utilizes machinery or equipment for processing and manufacturing iron and steel scrap, nonferrous metallic scrap, scrap paper, scrap plastics, scrap glass, scrap rubber, or scrap textiles into prepared grades, and whose principal product is scrap iron, scrap steel, nonferrous metallic scrap, scrap paper, scrap plastics, scrap glass, scrap rubber, or scrap textiles for use as raw material in manufacturing.

Scrim ‑ A very loosely woven fabric, i.e. netting, used as support or backing.

Secondary Materials - A term commonly used as a synonym for materials in the recycling process.

Selvedge ‑ A narrow flat woven border resulting at both lengthwise sides when the crosswise threads reverse direction.

Sheeting ‑ Plain‑woven, carded yarn cloths in medium and heavy weights. A woven or non-woven fabric other than knits that have a degree of sizing and are somewhat stiff.

Sisal - A product of the henequen plant formed into a pad and used as an insulator. Named after the small port of Sisal in Yucatan.

Sliver ‑ An untwisted strand or rope of textile fiber produced by a carding or combing machine.

Solid Waste - Any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities.  According to EPA, home, industrial, and processed scrap metal are exempt from the definition of solid waste.

Sorting deck -  A raised platform where sorting personnel remove selected secondary materials from a mixed stream passing by on a conveyor ( also see picking belt).

Source Separation - Any method that separates waste from recyclables at the source.  Such methods include curbside collection, buyback programs, and drop-off programs.

Spandex ‑ A lightweight, highly elastic man‑made fabric which is strong, durable and non‑absorbent to water and oils.

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Tensile Strength ‑ The greatest longitudinal stress a fabric can bear without tearing apart.

Tentering ‑ Drying stretching of fabric.

Terry ‑ An absorbent uncut pile fabric with loops forming the pile.

Textile MRF (Materials Recycling Facility) ‑ This is a facility that grades and sorts post consumer textile waste. See ‘‘Rag Sorter.’’

Thread Count ‑ The number of warp and woof yarns per inch in a woven fabric. The higher the thread count, the stronger and finer the fabric.

Ticking ‑ A strong, durable cotton or linen fabric used for upholstery and mattress covering.

Turkish Towel ‑ A towel made of thick cotton terry cloth.

Twill ‑ A strong, durable fabric characterized by a diagonal ridge on the face of the fabric.

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Velour ‑ Term applied to cut pile fabrics in general.

Vintage Used Clothing ‑ This is reused clothing that has either come  back into style or is part of a popular culture.

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Warp ‑ A series of yarns extended lengthwise in a loom, crossed by the woof.

Waste Stream - The waste material output of a community, region, or facility.

Weft ‑ Yarn used for the woof.

Woof ‑ A filling thread or yarn in weaving.

Wool ‑ A natural fabric made from the fur of sheep and other animals which is exceptionally absorbent but loses strength when wet.

Worsted ‑ A smooth compact yarn made from long wool fibers used especially in firm napless fabrics.

BFS· Bunker Fuel Service Charge.

C&F · Cost (of goods) and freight (transportation).

CAF · Currency Adjustment Factor.

CFI · Cost, Freight & Insurance.

FAS · Freight Along Side (Vessel, Truck, Pier).

FOB · Freight on Board (Vessel, Truck, Pier) — If cargo is purchased.

FOB Port · The shipper is responsible for delivering the cargo to the port of exit as part of the selling price.

FOB Warehouse · The buyer must move the cargo to the port of exit.

THC · Terminal Handling Charge.