Recycled Cotton Waste for Composites in Agrotech Applications

Sustainability and textiles are major upcoming areas in the world today. Textiles being the second largest economy generating as well as one of the polluting industries in India. Sustainable strategies are to be adopted for effective utilization of textile waste. Many attempts are being undertaken to find sustainable ways such as recycling fibres, yarns and fabrics. Textile fibres contribute nearly 4.6 % of the total pre-consumer waste materials being recycled in India. Agrotech is one of the fields of technical textiles which has gained importance in recent years. Hence, a study was undertaken in which needle punched non-woven fabric of 100%, 50:50 and 70:30 combinations was prepared using cotton waste fibers with wool waste, hemp waste, viscose rayon waste and natural nettle fiber waste fibers A comparative study of herbal finish treated and untreated composites was done. The results revealed that when herbal finish was applied on the developed composites and were tested on physical parameters as well as for specialised finishes; Hemp: Cotton 50:50 (herbal finish treated) combination showed 97% UV blocking and the moisture content increased to 11.7 % with good antimicrobial property. It was found that composites with herbal finish treatment showed better results and can be used for agrotech applications like shade nets, mulches, fruit covers and natural fruit ripeners.