Proposed implementation

Background: Textile waste problems

Fig.[1]

Widespread textile waste has become a huge problem for our environment. Globally, 92 million tonnes of textile waste is produced globally every year. Only a meager 12% of that waste is recycled. The overwhelming majority of the rest ends up in landfills and incinerators, contributing to the carbon dioxide output of the fashion industry, which accounts for a staggering 10% of global carbon dioxide output (Beall). Therefore, we developed a sustainable and cost-efficient method of degrading textile waste by up-cycling textile waste into more valuable products with minimum pollution during the process.

Proposed end users

Our primary customers will be firms and organizations that specialize in collecting and treating textile waste, which we found to be abundant in number through our human practice. Nevertheless, a large number of firms that collect, sort, and process textile wastes mainly adopt physical methods followed by incineration for livelihood. Our project utilizes a biological approach involving multiple advantageous aspects that out-compete traditional methods, comprising efficiency, end products with market value, and low pollution; we thus aim to offer a more preferable substitute for the traditional methods adopted by the specific markets. Other customers also include manufacturers and retailers of clothes. According to statistics, manufacturers and retailers generate around 13 million tons of textile waste yearly due to the overproduction of clothes (Portela), as 30% of the clothes produced are never sold every season (Elven). Through our research, we noticed that the pursuit of social responsibility and business reputation is gradually becoming a significant concern among firms and manufacturers, particularly those who dominate the market and possess a relatively large proportion of the market share. It's becoming increasingly common for large, oligopolistic firms to establish programs regarding the recycling of materials and products produced by themselves; therefore, our project provides a novel, cost-effective, and profit-generating new solution to the demand of clothing manufacturers and retailers. We furthermore hope to be able to offer our product to non-profit organizations and local government authorities seeking a cost-effective, environment-friendly solution to the detrimental impact brought by inefficient and pollution-causing processing methods. We also envision expanding our scope beyond the circumscribed range of textile recycling and degradation of garment materials; the nature of our project as a multi-enzyme synergy system possesses boundness possibilities that can be brought into effective action in numerous aspects and fields. We expect to offer our solution to industries that also demand an enzymatic synergy system, for instance, enzyme-catalyzed production in biotechnology, material degradation or fermentation, synthesis of carbohydrate substances, etc.

Fig.[2]

How is our product going to land in the real world?

Stage1: Research and development + patent application

• We will continue our ongoing research processes to enhance, including but not limited to, the efficiency of our enzymatic synergy system, the efficacy of our host-scaffold and scaffold-enzyme binding system, the optimum combination and culturing condition of the enzymes, the selection of enzymes, improvements upon the protein scaffolds, host selection and synthesis efficiency with regards to outside-laboratory limitations, to lower the cost and heighten the efficiency of our design for industrial mass production and commercialization.
• We will apply for a patent and obtain the local government's official recognition of our intellectual property rights over our designs, thereby ensuring our products' uniqueness and competitiveness and providing incentives for further technological development and expansion of our research team.

Fig.[3]

Fig.[4]

Fig.[3] and Fig.[4]: Sample dress made mainly from bacterial cellulose (Source: original)

Stage 2: Small-scale trial production and outreaching

• We will commence rudimentary small-scale production for trial purposes and test the feasibility of landing our project in reality, beyond laboratory conditions; if it's proven to be practicable and attainable, we will contrive to match the industrial standard and fulfill the requirements demanded by state regulations and local laws. If any hindrances or drawbacks are made obvious, we will cease the blindfolded expansion of production and formulate solutions by organizing specific groups to tackle the problems revealed respectively. This corresponds to our aim of launching a qualitative program and pursuing a high-standard production process, which is also beneficial for the future development of our project.
• We will actively reach out to stakeholders that have the possibility of practically incorporating our product into their research or business scope and firms that share common interests in our project, particularly recycling firms and agents in the fast-fashion industry. Furthermore, besides orientated contact with pertinent firms and organizations, we will release public advertisements of our products to attract a wider range of potential customers; this corresponds to society's increasing awareness of textile waste recycling and pollution problems we are tackling, thereby raising the publicity of our project.
• Furthermore, we plan to select samples to be offered, for instance, the end products of our textile degradation system--glucose and bacterial cellulose. We will demonstrate our designs and hardware to stakeholders who reveal a certain extent of interest and kindly request their feedback and constructive suggestions towards our project. After receiving the feedback, we will address the exposed problems and extend upon the foundation of our project with consideration of the suggestions and opinions.

Stage 3: Production and brand establishment

• We plan to establish factories and start producing the cellulosome complex and its complementary hardware on a large scale to sell to local and international customers. Moreover, by designing and completing registration for trademarks recognized by market-regulation officials in the country, we would distinguish ourselves from competitors and facilitate brand advertisement.
• After our interview with Mr. Edwin Keh, the CEO of The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA), we were inspired by his clear elucidation of the idea that textile waste, particularly related to the fashion or clothing industry, is not only a scientific recycling problem to be solved but also a social issue as well. This is the ultimate reason we have determined to integrate public education and outreach into our implementation process as part of our brand establishment and publication. We have published numerous episodes of our self-filmed documentaries (see Education and Communication--Documentaries) that elucidate the influence of conspicuous consumption on the increase in production quantity of firms in the fashion industry and illustrate the detrimental impact of textile waste on the environment. We further plan to develop cooperative relationships with non-profit organizations and educational institutions to establish charity websites and education programs for the purpose of raising awareness within societies and eventually aim to solve the problem from the very source.
• The range of usage of the cellulosome multi-enzyme synergy system is not only limited to cellulose degradation but also possesses possibilities of implementation in many fields as well; the successful expression of multiple enzymes, including PETase and MHETase through the enzyme hosts, our project furthermore demonstrated its application in synthetic polymers like polyester and plastic degradation. By developing cellulosomes with new combinations of enzymes to degrade more materials, we can expand the scope of our production and the usage of our cellulosome complex.

Fig.[5]

Advantages of our product

Fig.[6]

Sustainability

Our product will provide a more sustainable alternative to this current treatment method as it is more environmentally friendly than many of the existing methods, including incineration, landfill, mechanical or chemical treatment. This corresponds to the sustainable development goals (see page sustainable development) established by United Nations and pushes our project to be responsible for the world. Our implementation stages not only involve the industrialization and commercialization of our project but are also comprised of public education, innovation, and measures combating climate change. We conceive our project to be able to revolutionize the traditional waste-treating methods adopted by society and contribute to the sustainable development aim pursued by nations globally.

Upcycling

Our cellulosome eventually breaks down the fabric into glucose which we turn into bacterial cellulose--maximizing the commercial value and utility of the textile. The advantage of upcycling distinguishes our project immensely from traditional textile waste treatment methods, which normally consist of the down-cycling process. Through our contact and interview with Mr. Wang, the CEO of Shandong ChuangXinYi Renewable Resources Co., LTD, one of the largest and most impactful conventional textile recycling companies in China, we have acquired profound knowledge regarding the drawbacks and negative impacts brought by the down-cycling in traditional treating methods: textiles are converted into low-quality "black rags" named for their dark color resulting from the smashing and rejoining process, and will eventually end up in incineration plants or landfill sites as they cannot be smashed and reused again. Our up-cycling process was approved by Mr. Wang as it produces glucose that can then be converted into bacterial cellulose, eliminating this problem and framing a closed loop within the fashion industry; the bacterial cellulose extracted from garment textiles can be reused to create clothes again.

Fig.[8]

Flexibility

Fig.[9]

Public Attention

Across the globe, people are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of environmental protection. Consumers, especially young people, resonate more with firms whose decisions and actions correspond with local and global environmental initiatives. As they are the eventual consumers of commercial products, firms that are taking climate action by employing our products are able to pursue an extent of social responsibility, and the consequent increase in reputation will gain traction among consumers.

Problems and challenges we are facing

• The potential customers of our product may hold a doubtful attitude towards genetically modified products, questioning their safety.
• We face competition from other existing methods of textile recycling methods. The vast majority of mature industries treat textile waste mainly through physical, chemical, and biological methods. When our end users face a decision, they may prefer other existing options over ours due to the maturity and reliability of the traditional methods.
• The efficiency of our enzymes may not be able to compensate for the cost of production.

Safety aspects we are considering

• In the future, to ensure our enzymes and cellulosome complex will not be accidentally leaked outside laboratories or manufacturing factories in the industry, we plan on developing a MazE toxin, and MazF antitoxin kills switch to prevent any damage to the environment or people's health. We are developing and designing specialized hardware equipment to achieve the same goal as well.

Fig.[10]

How others can use our project?

• We envision others incorporating different enzymes into our scaffold, maximizing the utility of cellulosome to function as a multi-enzyme synergy system and extending the scope of its usage beyond our design. We also envision future teams improving the efficiency of the synthesis of the protein scaffolding and enzymes and developing more combinations of cellulosome complex by expressing a fuller collection of the CipA and OlpB protein. Based on the current foundation of our experiment, future teams can also develop methods enhancing the binding effectiveness of the cohesin-dockerins and promote the cellulosome construction effectiveness by testing other possibilities of the host organism and cell-surface anchoring protein.

References:

[1]Ellen MacArthur Foundation. “Redesigning the Future of Fashion.” Ellenmacarthurfoundation.org, 2021, ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/fashion/overview.

[2]Beall, Abigail. “Why Clothes Are so Hard to Recycle.” Www.bbc.com, BBC, 13 July 2020, www.bbc.com/future/article/20200710-why-clothes-are-so-hard-to-recycle.

[3]Portela, Valentina. “The Fashion Industry Waste Is Drastically Contributing to Climate Change.” CALPIRG, 9 Mar. 2021, pirg.org/california/articles/the-fashion-industry-waste-is-drastically-contributing-to-climate-change/.

[4]Elven, Marjorie van. “Infographic: The Extent of Overproduction in the Fashion Industry.” Fashionunited.uk, 12 Dec. 2018, fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/infographic-the-extent-of-overproduction-in-the-fashion-industry/2018121240500.

[5]”Our Waste Solution: True Inventory Optimization.” Loopt Foundation, www.loopt.org/industry. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.