Team:Edinburgh/Human Practices/Industries/Textiles

Textile industry

Manufacturing of textiles is a versatile industry due to the different nature of used substrate. Most important globally is production of fabrics from cotton which is subdivided into five stages: cultivation, pre-treatment, spinning, weaving and finishing. 35 million hectares worldwide are covered with cotton – the space equal to the area of Germany. Importance in Scotland: Traditionally, Scottish textile industry is associated with south of the country – mainly counties of Ayrshire and Borders. Production of textiles provides a major contribution to the economy with yearly turnover of £950 million and addition to the country’s budget which exceeds £400 million. Tweed is a major traditional Scottish textile product of worldwide fame (Figure 1). Tweed is a an unfinished closely woven woollen fabric. Probably the most well-known fan of tweed is Sherlock Holmes with his characteristic deerstalker hat (Figure 2).

Figure 1. Logo of a most famous Scottish tweed manufacturer – Harris (left); appearance of a typical tweed fabric (right)

Figure 2. Deerstalker hat made from tweed

Waste generated by textile industry

The greatest environmental impact of textile industry is generated by the amount of water that is used during the process. 200 litres of H2O, or more, is required to produce just 1 kg of final product. With water released from the manufacturing facility solvents, bleaching agents and surfactants used during the production of the fabric are being released to the environment. Those can be highly toxic. Our project aims to use those organic compounds as a carbon source for efficient production of bioethanol (hyperlink to bioethanol description)