Economical and Sustainable Practices towards Knit-Dyeing Plant Utilizing Enzymes

Abstract

The introduction of enzymes in the treatment of textiles has made a significant contribution to the textile sector. The traditional pretreatment scouring process has many drawbacks, conciliated by handling with enzymes. Since most factories still use traditional pretreatment to obviate natural impurities from cotton knit fabric, they experience a lot of water, electricity, stream, and time consumption, and more significant fibre loss. Also, the conventional pretreatment method and dyeing of grey fabrics lead to significant wastewater, a detrimental impact on the environment. The main focus of the paper is sustainable practices towards textile processes. In this research, cotton knit fabrics were scoured by SCOUR-ZYME (bio-scouring enzyme) and caustic soda. Physicochemical parameters of the wastewater derived from caustic scouring and enzymatic scouring had been examined. Remazol brand reactive dyes were used for caustic soda scoured fabric and Avitera brand reactive dyes used for bio-scoured fabric. The wastewater generated from both dyeing process were investigated. Some selected physical characteristics including absorbency test, percentage of weight loss, whiteness index, moisture regain, moisture content, bursting strength, carboxylic content, pilling test, colour strength, colour fastness to wash, rubbing and perspiration, were also analyzed for scoured, bleached and dyed materials. Bio-scouring method improved the absorption of the material without any substantial loss of strength and helped to properly dye and finish the cloth. Substantial lower consumption of electricity, water, streams, chemicals, and time and, consequently, cost, environmental pressures were reduced in the enzyme method. Physicochemical parameters test results indicated more significant ecological improvement than the traditional approach for using enzymes and low-impact reactive dyes. The value of colour strength for Avitera coloured specimens was higher than Remazol coloured specimens due to enhanced colour absorption. What is more, the physical characteristics also demonstrated better outcomes in the use of enzymatic scouring method. Therefore, enzymatic scouring and dyeing with Avitera brand reactive dyes in the knit-dyeing plant can be used as an environmentally-friendly compared to caustic scouring and dyeing with Remazol brand reactive dyes.