Competitive Technologies of Processing the Textile and Leather Waste Into High Added Value

Competitive technologies of processing the textile and leather waste into high added value products

Abstract

Irrespective of the historical period, geographic position, economic power and employed technologies, waste was produced and will be produced in a higher or lower quantity as long as life and activity exist on earth. The negative effects of these over the environment factors and, implicitly over population health, are well known and spread worldwide, and not tackling adequately this matter can have catastrophic consequences over life.

Taking all these into account implies the finding out of solutions for diminishing the general waste quantities and the negative effects of the produced ones, by re-using the recyclable ones in the production processes as secondary raw materials, and also by ecologically treating and storing the ones that cannot be reused.

The waste minimizing was identified in the new environment policy and in the planning regime as a strategic instrument.

In this respect the objectives of the project „Competitive technologies of processing the textile and leather wastes into high added value products” no. 716, CEEX-MENER program aimed at:

-the comparative analysis of the scientific, social and political mechanisms regarding the implementing of the zero waste notion in ERA, the evaluating of the untropic impact over the environment;

- the achieving of a modern information system concerning the textile and leather waste;

-the elaborating of certain flexible, ecologic technologies of processing the textile waste of the cotton/wool/bast and leather type into conventional and/or nonconventional textile products with high added value;

-experiments regarding the thermo-chemical treatment of textile wastes.

The multitude of processes from the light industry led to the elaboration of an extremely complex data base, which comprises 64 data tables. With the help of the specialized languages MySQL and PHP there was developed a web application for managing the data base regarding the textile and leather waste, the data base being implemented on an internet server at the address: The application has a access pyramid structure and is made up of 3 modules: public, company and administrator.

The establishing of the potential technologies/solutions of recovering the textile and leather waste into high added value products, basically included aspects regardingthe the macro-economic impact over the social and business environment.

Having in view the approaching of the technology of conventionally or non-conventionally processing the textile waste into conventional or non-conventional products, the following aspects were targeted:

- the optimizing of the functional and comfort properties of the recovered fibre blend by using the binary or ternary textile waste blends;

- the choosing of the equipment and technologic parameters that are optimum for processing the fibre blends containing maximum quantities of recovered fibres;

- the flexible using of equipment;

- the ensuring of the physical-mechanical characteristics of the recovered fibres in order to obtain products with high added value.

The control characteristics meant for determining the spinnability limit of the fibre blend containing recovered fibres are: fibre length (mm), non-defibred yarn content (%), non-opened rag content (%), average weight per non-opened rag (mg).

The technologic availability of SC Firi-Vigonia SA, from the point of view of the existing equipment, facilitated the choosing of the optimum flows of processing the recovered fibre blends into yarns. The combining of the technologic operations that are specific to the wool type spinning system, with those of the cotton type spinning system, allowed the defining of flexible technologies that allow the obtaining of yarns within the count range Nm5-Nm30, depending on the opened material basic characteristics. The flexible processing systems represent a technologic alternative of obtaining the high added value products.

The novelty elements: the using of fibre blends made up of 100% recovered fibres for obtaining the yarns on the cotton/wool type mechanical processing; the optimizing of the fibre blends by using 2-4 textile waste components.

The technologic experiments of obtaining the non-conventional textile products from recovered fibres were carried out at SC Industria Iutei SA. Having in view the quantitative availability and the potential value of technologic processing the wastes into high added value products, the processing experiments were done based on the following versions of bast fibre wastes: yarn remainder fly, fabric patch remainder, flax tow. As final products, there were made felt versions that can be used as thermo- and hydro- insulating construction materials, thermo- and sound insulating materials for the car industry or as mechanical protection for certain car body elements.

The impact of tanning houses over the environment derives from gasous, solid and liquid residue discharges, and from the raw material consumption, such as: untanned skins, power, chemical substances and water. The recovering of the leather waste represents a necessity of the clean, ecologic technologies because only 25% of the raw skins is to be found as a finished product. There were selected the tanned and finished leather waste (cuttings), which were processed with a view to accomplishing competitive products having high added value, and which were physically-chemically characterized and presented further on.

The tanned and finished leather waste (cuttings), fig 7.represent leather waste resulted from the equalizing and processing of the finished leather, as well as after the product manufacturing containing much lower humidity and being stable to rotting.

There was elaborated the technology of obtaining the granules from the polymer compound containing PVC and protein waste, meant for footwear or footwear accessory manufacturing (soles, heel pieces, straps, welts etc.) by injecting and extruding. As novelty aspects, one can mention: new products containing PVC and protein waste, the technology of superficially treating the protein waste for improving compatibility, the technology of accomplishing polymer compounds containing PVC and superficially treated protein waste. Applicability domains: footwear soles, protection boots in the oil industry.

As part of the project a method for obtaining active coal by using textile waste and a „clean” technology was elaborated. The suggested and applied technical solution resides in two main operations that were carried out on two laboratory installations: low temperature carbonization, activation.

The obtained active coal is of low quality, at the botton limit of the active coal, but it is obtained by recovering certain waste, with minimum investment and economic costs, with possible applications in the waste water treating and discolouring, gas purifying or as products containing reactive carbon in chemical reactions.

Conclusions

• The technologies of mechanically and chemically treating the textile and leather waste are flexible ones that ensure the obtaining of products with high added value, that is:

- Nm5 - Nm30 yarns of100% recovered fibres and/or70% recovered fibres / 30% binder fibres;

- felts used as sound and thermo-insulating materials in constructions, composite materials for the car industry, materials for reinforcing dumps, etc.;

-polymer compound containing PVC and protein waste;

-active coal.

• The practical application of the “zero waste” desideratum by the efficient recovering of textile and leather waste into high added value products by means of competitive technologies needs:

- strategic facilities by way of public-private partnerships for effecting the infrastructure investments and the technologic networks of waste processing;

-demonstrative pilot installations for knowledge-cumulating and the experience necessary for implementing an integrated system of waste management;

- the public acceptance regarding the need of investments, which can be obtained by means of information and communicationcampaigns, starting from the idea that waste is communication, not only business and logistics, for wastere-positioning and perceptionchanging, the following steps are needed: the identifying of the obstacles that endanger the collecting/valorizing, explaining of the pressures/limits/defects, the achieving of a local brand, implication, education, media, event organizing;

- coherent strategy, professional consultancy, sustainable campaign.

“The investments in the environment do not represent a caprice, but they mean investments in our economy and health. These may represent, at the same time, profitable business, as the case may be, for example, the selective collecting and recovering of waste.”