Approaches of enzyme-based biotechnology to achieve textile recovery and reuse for circularity

The aim of the project is to develop enzyme-based biotechnologies to recover valuable resources from wool blended fabrics, specifically wool/synthetic and wool/bast fibre blends, for recycling and reuse to support textile sectors transition towards circularity. The project will focus on utilising biotechnology to re-manufacture post-consumer and post-industrial textile waste for new applications by using the enzymes protease and transglutaminase to create new surface pattern on fabrics with textural effects and or repair damaged wool fibres for fabric reuse, respectively. Novel enzyme-based biotechnologies will also be developed to separate bast (flax, hemp and nettle), synthetic (nylon, polyester), and wool fibres, from blended fabrics for upcycling bast fibres into cottonised fibres, and recycling synthetic fibres back into fibres. Extracted valuable wool protein polypeptides will be utilised to develop novel added value machine washable wool.

De Montfort University and Loughborough University brings together three UK based industry partners with a global reach: Camira Fabrics, a contract upholstery fabric manufacturer; Fox Brothers & Co Ltd, a wool cloth manufacturer; and The Woolmark Company, a global authority on wool, to ensure project outputs are of direct relevance to various sectors of the industry and enable alignment to sustainable circular development to deliver economic and environmental impact when scaled up, widely contributing to realising UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Additional Information:
Principal Investigator: Professor Jinsong; Lead Research Organisation: De Montfort University.
Co-Investigator: Dr Chetna Prajapati; Co-Research Organisation: Loughborough University