Reduce, reclaim & reuse waste - new mantra of Trützschler

02 Nov '10

3 min read

It has been normally noticed at conferences that, more than 50 percent of the delegates leave pre or post-lunch, but such was the drawing power of the speakers and the interesting topics being deliberated at the International Conference on Denim, that, it was clearly noted by one and all that, most of the delegates were still around and were keenly looking forward to the post-lunch deliberations after having partaken a sumptuous lunch.

Mr Shilditya Joshi, Product Manager at Truetzschler - a world wide leader in spinning preparatory machines, was the first speaker in the post-lunch session of the conference and his topics was “Waste recovery and recycling of cotton for denims”, which if adopted by the Indian denim producers, could lead to huge cost savings and in the process make them extremely cost-competitive.

Cotton, is the most important and basic raw material for the denim fabric sector, he informed the attentive delegates, which accounts for 66 percent of overall costs and with cotton prices, passing through one of the most volatile phase and showing very little hopes of improvement in the near future--everybody in the trade, has started working towards cost cutting measures in every aspect.

Focused approach on “Reduce waste” and “Reclaim and Reuse” has helped Trützschler to introduce innovative technology, which could particularly interest the denim manufacturers. The answer to which is an innovative sensor based technology “Waste Sensor BR-WCT”. The waste sensor is an optical measuring system, which monitors share of good fibres in the waste in the blowroom, thus controlling and reducing the waste during opening and cleaning process itself, he said.

Next on his agenda, was tackling and recovering the waste generated in the cards department and which still contain 40–60 percent good fibres and can be recycled to recover the lint, the answer to which is the 'Truetzschler Secureprop machine', he noted, and which is possible, with the help of speed sensors and nozzles and precise and selective seperation.

He explained the process by saying that, card licker-in waste is similar to blow room waste, thus can be recycled and card flat strips are more valuable and can be extracted separately if required.

He provided a cost-benefit analysis in which, at an blowroom output of 1400 kg / hour, considering waste of around 3-4 percent, 8000 operating hours per year and a savings of 0.3 percent, it is possible to generate a savings of Rs 2.7 million per year. In case of cards, in a spinning mill with 20 cards and a production rate of 80 kg/hr, considering wastage of 8 percent, 14,000 tons of material input for 8,000 operating hours a year, if only 1 percent of raw material can be recycled via a corresponding recycling installation, this amounts to 138,000 kg per year. At a waste cotton price of Rs 60 / kg, it translates in to an annual saving of more than Rs. 8.4 million.

Delving on the reasons for using the recycling equipment, he told the awe-struck delegates who were salivating at the prospects of generating huge cost-savings, “Recycling installations can also be integrated into existing installations. For large amounts of waste it is also possible to establish high-production installations independent of the cleaning line and recycling installations often amortize in a very short period of time and prove to be a rewarding investment, he concluded by saying.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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