Bio4Life

Solution Name: W2R – Waste to Rainbow

Target Challenge:

Producing a solution for the organic waste valorization.
Retaining product performance and longevity in the move towards less complex, biobased, and biodegradable materials.

Develop bio-based pigment for textile industry via biotech applications.

Solution Description

As it is known, the textile industry is the 3rd biggest sector that triggers pollution in the world (water, soil, and air). Chemical dyes, especially those used in textiles, not only pollute water, soil, and air but also cause serious harm to our health. The most common diseases are skin cancer, asthma/allergic reactions, infertility, and of course neurological disorders. These chemical dyes, which we encounter in almost every textile product, include many toxic substances and they pose a potential risk to the health of us and our loved ones. Toxic wastes generated both during the production of chemical dyestuffs used in textiles and when they are applied to the fabric are released into the environment (air, water, soil). Thus, it accumulates in organisms at the bottom of the food pyramid and is transported to the top of the pyramid through the food chain. Thus, the colorful side of the textile world is actually the tip of the iceberg, and there are serious losses (economic, health, climate, environmental pollution, etc.) under the iceberg, unfortunately, it is not seen by everyone. We want to solve this problem with biotechnology, by using pigment-producing microbes in textile dyeing via the contribution of genetic engineering, metabolic engineering, chemical engineering, and bioinformatics approaches. So far, we have developed several colors and used them to dye fabric and tested these dyed fabrics in collaboration with a textile company. Thus, lab-scale PoC was completed and we continue to do it on a pilot scale in terms of dye production and dyeing process in collaboration with several textile companies.