Browsing by Author "Prajapati, Chetna D."
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Item Open Access Development of enzyme-based bioprocesses for recycling and reuse of wool blended fabrics to support the textiles industry transition to a circular system(2024-11-12) Shen, Jinsong; Akonda, Mahmudul; Smith, Edward; Prajapati, Chetna D.There are constant demands to reduce the negative impact to the environment of textile materials through being more sustainable and recyclable. The new challenge facing the global textiles industry is to develop technologies for upcycling, recycling, and reuse of textile waste to achieve textile circularity. Blended fabrics have proved difficult to recycle due to fibres being intimately blended and the lack of innovation to enable separation of different fibre components, so blended textiles often end up being disposed in landfills or by incineration. Enzyme-based biotechnology has demonstrated its potential to provide innovative solutions to improve textile performance properties and reduce the negative impact of textile production on the environment. In this current research, enzyme-based biotechnology processes were explored for recycling and reuse of wool/bast fibre blended fabrics from post-consumer and/or manufacturing waste streams. Individual fibre components were separated and recovered for re-processing back into yarns for fabric production. Bast fibres are regarded as sustainable fibres for textiles due to requiring almost no water or pesticides during cultivation. Recycling and reuse of bast fibres from waste textile materials could contribute towards saving land for other types of farming, saving energy and water from processing. The current research has also demonstrated the potential to extract and reuse dyes from waste textiles for textile coloration. These research outcomes demonstrate potential opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of textile production and support the global textile industry transition to a circular system.