Portugal: Researchers aim to cut textile industry pollution, water consumption

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 LUSA

A team of researchers from the University of Coimbra (UC) is developing an innovative technology that could reduce the pollution caused by the textile industry, one of the biggest polluters in the world, the higher education establishment announced on Monday.

“The aim is to enable the industry to reduce its consumption of water, but also of dyes, which, although low cost, have a brutal environmental impact,” said Jorge Pereira, a lecturer in the Chemical Engineering Department of the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Coimbra.

A team of researchers from the Chemical Engineering Department (DEQ) of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras (IIT Madras), is developing the “CirRe-Dyeing” project, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). CirRe-Dyeing” runs until 2025 and involves around two dozen researchers.

In a note sent to the Lusa news agency, the UC explained that this project aims to create a circular platform that allows the dyes used in fibre and fabric dyeing processes to be reused, as well as the water present in the effluents.

“The textile industry is currently one of the five biggest polluters in the world, particularly in terms of water consumption. By 2030, textile production is expected to grow by around 145 million tonnes,” he added.

According to Jorge Pereira, the textile industry is one of the most alarming sectors in terms of water consumption and drought-related problems, which are likely to get worse in the future.

“It generates more concern due to the high amount of effluents contaminated with synthetic dyes and other chemical auxiliaries after the dyeing process,” said the researcher at the Centre for Chemical Engineering and Renewable Resources for Sustainability (CERES).

To respond to this problem, the team he leads has been developing a technology that makes it possible to “recover and reuse the water, dyes and additives that make up this contaminated effluent as many times as possible” within a circular economy concept.

“The technology we are developing will significantly reduce the amount of contaminants present in the effluent, making it easier to treat the subsequent water using more conventional processes and, consequently, reducing the associated costs,” he says.

According to the team of researchers, the aim is to create an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable platform that can be used anywhere in the world and in different industries.

The technology conceived at FCTUC is currently “in the process of intellectual protection”.

“We believe that this technology has enormous potential for implementation at an industrial level and, with the support of the Portuguese textile industries, it could progress to pilot trials and, in the immediate future, contribute to a more efficient and ecological treatment of their effluents contaminated with dyes,” he concluded.