Water Pollution
The textile industry uses high volumes of water throughout
its operations, from the washing of fibers to bleaching, dyeing and washing of
finished products. On average, approximately 200 L of water are required to
produce l kg of textiles (Table 3) . The large volumes of wastewater
generated also contain a wide variety of chemicals, used throughout processing.
These can cause damage if not properly treated before discharge to the
environment. Of all the steps involved in textiles processing, wet processing
creates the highest volume of wastewater.
The aquatic toxicity of textile industry wastewater varies
considerably among production facilities. The sources of aquatic toxicity can
include salt, surfactants, ionic metals and their metal complexes, toxic
organic chemicals, biocides and toxic anions. Most textile dyes have low
aquatic toxicity. On the other hand, surfactants and related compounds, such as
detergents, emulsifiers and dispersants are used in almost each textile process
and can be an important contributor to effluent aquatic toxicity, BOD and
foaming. Detailed information on the sources of wastewater for the wet
processing of different fibers (cotton, wool and blendes, synthetic fiber)
includes, main pollutants, volumes, wastewater characteristics and pollution
impact is also available.
Solid Waste Pollution
The primary residual wastes generated from the textile
industry are non-hazardous. These include scraps of fabric and yarn,
off-specification yarn and fabric and packaging waste. There are also wastes
associated with the storage and production of yarns and textiles, such as chemical
storage drums, cardboard reels for storing fabric and cones used to hold yarns
for dyeing and knitting. Cutting room waste generates a high volume of fabric
scraps, which can often be reduced by increasing fabric utilization efficiency
in cutting and sewing. The following table (Table 4) summarizes solid
wastes associated with various textile-manufacturing processes.
Click here to view List of Tables
