University announces breakthrough technology to tackle mounting global issue: '[A] paradigm shift'

Researchers at Portugal's University of Coimbra announced a game-changing project to reduce pollution from textile dyeing.

The project, called DyeLoop, was launched last February. Project coordinator Jorge Pereira proudly called it a "paradigm shift," saying, "After the dyeing process, instead of sending the wash water for treatment and disposal, DyeLoop recycles the dye bath effluents back into the process."

Recycling dyes is a huge deal. Normally, artificial dyes "do not bind tightly to … fabric," according to a 2022 environmental safety study. So, they are discarded into waterways, where they disrupt the entire food chain.

These dyes contain many harmful metals, like mercury and arsenic, and they don't fade away quickly. They linger in waterways and seep into soil, where they're consumed by aquatic plants, which are consumed by fish, which humans and other top predators then eat. 

Thus, these nasty pollutants sneak their way up the food chain, hurting the health of everything they come into contact with. It doesn't help that the textile industry is massive. As of 2020, over 10,000 tons of toxic dyes were being produced worldwide.

Projects like DyeLoop are essential to reducing this waste. Fortunately, their innovation is being recognized. The project is being funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, a Portugal-based organization promoting "greater participation and involvement of citizens and civil society in building more sustainable communities."

DyeLoop plans to spend the next three years developing a prototype that will cut textile dyeing costs in half, according to Pereira. 

This project is one of many revolutionizing the textile industry. In Taiwan, one man is repurposing oyster shells into a low-carbon material he calls "Seawool," while Spanish entrepreneur Carmen Hijosa has developed a sustainable leather alternative using pineapple leaves.

With groundbreaking projects like these, the textile industry can be changed for the better.

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