Cotton Waste Recycling

A statistical report unveiled the fact that the total amount of cotton dust generated in India alone is around 80000 to 85000 tons per annum. Cotton being ¿White gold¿,every type of waste expelled during processing are recycled into new products like bed sheets,carpets,upholstery,wiping cloth,socks and many more.Among the different types of waste from spinning mills,one specific type of waste,namely willow dust was selected. This waste is too short a fiber to be used for any textile application like non-wovens.The usual strategy is landfill disposal that causes strong hindrance to human and animal health.Research gap was in exploring an alternative technology, to recycle by a new technique, for a new end use encompassing of biotechnology,vermicomposting and agriculture.This will be a beneficial manual for R&D of various spinning industries globally.Waste cotton,contaminated cotton dust and micro dust evacuated from spinning mills can all be bio-converted into a value added product providing additional income to farmers and self help groups.