Chemical dyes wield a big however usually missed impression on India’s atmosphere. Within the bustling textile trade, the place colors flourish, the widespread use of chemical dyes presents a multifaceted menace to the atmosphere.
These dyes, laden with heavy metals and poisonous compounds, discover their means into water our bodies, soil, and air, polluting essential pure assets. They not solely pollute nature but in addition have an effect on the meals chain in water our bodies.
As per a analysis paper by Science Direct, “The textile dyes additionally act as poisonous, mutagenic and carcinogenic brokers, persist as environmental pollution and cross total meals chains offering biomagnification, such that organisms at increased trophic ranges present increased ranges of contamination in comparison with their prey.”
Alternate options equivalent to utilizing flowers to make colors and textile dyes have been gaining recognition, however they arrive with a set of challenges together with availability, possibilities of fading and price.
“There’s additionally a problem of color consistency. The textile trade wants the color to be of the identical consistency on each material which turns into tough with flower-derived colors,” says Vaishali Kulkarni of KBCols Sciences.
KBCols is a science firm that makes pure dyes. Co-founded by Vaishali Kulkarni and her husband Aryan Singh, the corporate has found out a means of constructing pure dyes from waste through the use of microbes!
How does the science behind this work? The founders clarify the intricacies in an interview with The Higher India.
‘This was future’
Born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Vaishali informs she by no means deliberate that she would turn into an entrepreneur. “I’m a science particular person however the flip of occasions led me into the color trade,” she says.
After finishing her postgraduate research, she determined to go for a PhD from a university in Mumbai.
“Throughout my PhD research, initiatives usually got here to our school in regards to the therapy of colored water within the textile division. Researchers had been tasked with addressing this concern by using numerous unit operations to purify the water. It turned evident that prevention was higher than remedy,” she ponders.
This gave me an thought about how she may make pure dyes as an alternative of making an attempt to purify the contaminated water.
It was throughout this time that she met Aryan, who had the same thought.
“We aimed to deal with the basis trigger reasonably than take care of the results. This led us to the realisation that as an alternative of managing the discharge of dangerous colors into the water after their use in textiles and different industries, it will be extra prudent to develop safer alternate options. This concept sparked our curiosity, and we started engaged on it diligently,” she informs.
As soon as the PhD was full, she determined to try to safe a grant from the federal government.
“We utilized for a grant, and it was awarded to KDCols to conduct proof-of-concept (POC) research. As per the grant necessities, we needed to choose an incubator centre if we didn’t have entry to a lab or any particular subjects in thoughts,” she recollects.
“The closest one to Mumbai was in Pune, the place the Enterprise Middle supplied this facility. Consequently, we had been incubated there, and our journey started in earnest in 2018,” she provides.
The corporate was based by the duo the identical yr, and so they have been working ever since to make natural colors from waste.
“Everyone knows that colors are ubiquitous, present in practically each trade, together with textiles, meals, and cosmetics. We regularly affiliate particular colors with sure merchandise, just like the expectation that apples ought to be crimson. Consequently, color performs a big position in our day-to-day actions,” ponder Vaishali.
With about 80 p.c of the industries on the earth utilizing chemical dyes, they’re affecting our petroleum assets too.
“These dyes are primarily derived from petroleum assets, that are finite. Due to this fact, it’s inevitable that sooner or later, these petroleum assets will turn into exhausted. An efficient different was the necessity of the hour,” she says.
In right now’s market, choices within the type of vegetable and flower colors can be found, however they lack sustainability.
“They require huge quantities of land for cultivation. As an example, rising particular crops or flowers necessitates intensive land assets and is usually topic to differences due to the season, taking months to mature,” she says.
Utilizing microbes to make colors
One of many main challenges confronted by the trade with these flower and vegetable colors is their lack of reproducibility. Their colors fluctuate, making it tough to realize consistency. This inconsistency prevents their widespread adoption on an industrial scale.
“To deal with this concern, the duo determined to make use of micro-organisms. Our colors are pure bio-colours, providing a dependable and sustainable answer to the challenges posed by conventional vegetable and flower colors,” she states.
The uncooked supplies to make these colors are derived from waste.
“Microorganisms possess inherent properties that allow them to provide colors, as reported within the literature. Nonetheless, regardless of this data, nobody in India has ventured into industrial or industrial manufacturing utilizing this technique,” she says.
Recognising this untapped potential, the duo determined to discover this space and provide pure color choices.
“Our strategy entails utilising a mix of plant or vegetable colors. These colors might be cultivated inside a vertical reactor, permitting for environment friendly manufacturing inside a batch time of 16 to 24 hours,” she says.
She continues, “Remarkably, this course of doesn’t depend on petroleum assets or excessive temperatures for cultivation. As an alternative, we utilise agricultural waste, together with sugars and salts, to domesticate the microorganisms inside the reactor.”
Speaking in regards to the analysis and growth course of, she talks in regards to the limitations that include utilizing microbes.
“Microorganisms have a tendency to provide color when subjected to emphasize. Due to this fact, we should gather samples from numerous environments the place microorganisms are naturally uncovered to stressors. To isolate the pigmented microorganisms from the multitude of micro organism and microorganisms entails gathering soil samples and screening water and air samples from various places. Remarkably, even a tiny quantity of soil, only one milligram, can yield 1000’s of microbes,” she says.
She provides, “Whereas this analysis and growth part is time-consuming, as soon as we have now efficiently remoted a microbe with a desired color, it turns into a precious proprietary asset of the corporate.”
How did it translate available in the market?
Isolating microbes being a time-consuming course of is what has delayed the couple from launching their merchandise available in the market.
“We beforehand collaborated with a designer based mostly in Pune, to launch a small assortment. This assortment was showcased on the Lakme Vogue Week 2022 in Delhi, the place fashions wore clothes dyed with our colors. Whereas this served as a delicate launch, our official industrial launch is scheduled for both the tip of this yr or the subsequent,” she informs.
Speaking about how their colors are aggressive with the artificial colors available in the market, Vaishali explains, “In textiles, the efficiency parameters are based mostly on three facets: color fastness to gentle, washing, and rubbing. Color fastness to gentle refers back to the material’s capacity to withstand fading when uncovered to daylight. Washing fastness assesses how nicely the color holds up when subjected to harsh detergents. Rubbing fastness measures the color stability of the material below friction.”
For every parameter, industrial requirements sometimes vary from 1 to five, with a better worth indicating higher efficiency.
“Chemical colors usually rating an ideal 5, whereas our pure colors sometimes obtain a score of three to 4 for gentle fastness and 5 for laundry fastness which is an appropriate trade commonplace,” she says.
Sharing her future plans, Vaishali informs that the duo is concentrated on launching the product as quickly as potential.
“At present, we’re additionally within the strategy of developing our demonstration plant in Pune, with an estimated capability of round 500 kg per 30 days. This enlargement goals to extend our manufacturing capability. Moreover, we plan to diversify into the cosmetics and meals sectors, along with textiles,” she shares.
Wish to know extra about their ingenious expertise? Go to their web site to know extra.
(Edited by Padmashree Pande)