Production of fermentable sugars by enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated waste textile

Cellulose (cotton) and polyester based textile with contribution of 27 and 39 million tons per year, respectively, has the highest share of the textile market in the world. Cellulose recovery and degradation to simple sugar in order to use for other applications, such as biofuel production, is the best way to achieve environmental goals at the lowest cost. In this study, NaOH/urea aqueous solution was used for recovery of cellulose from cotton-polyester waste textiles. The treatment with the alkali solvent resulted in efficient separation and purification of polyester and a high yield of glucose recovery out of the highly crystalline cotton after an enzymatic hydrolysis.