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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.

Sec. Industrial Biotechnology

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1632772

This article is part of the Research TopicClosing the Loop: Enhancing Biotechnological Routes for a More Circular Economy TransitionView all 5 articles

Diving into commercial cellulase formulations for circular polyester/cotton separation through targeted depolymerization of cotton

Provisionally accepted
Jeannie  EganJeannie Egan1,2Michael  BartaMichael Barta1Patrick  PointnerPatrick Pointner1Birgit  HerbingerBirgit Herbinger1Judith  Rudolf-ScholikJudith Rudolf-Scholik1Agnes  GruenfelderAgnes Gruenfelder1David  LilekDavid Lilek1Thomas  RosenauThomas Rosenau2Georg  M GuebitzGeorg M Guebitz3Christian  B SchimperChristian B Schimper1*
  • 1Josef Ressel Centre "Recovery Strategies for Textiles", University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Biotech Campus Tulln, Tulln, Austria
  • 2BOKU University, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry of Renewable Resources, Tulln, Austria
  • 3BOKU University, Department of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Tulln, Austria

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The rapid growth of the textile industry, driven by fast fashion trends, has significantly increased textile waste, particularly blends of polyester (PET) and cotton fibers, and efficient recycling of blended textiles requires effective fiber separation methods, yet current strategies face substantial limitations. This study investigates the performance of commercially available cellulase formulations for enzymatic depolymerization of cotton and suggests an optimized activity pattern for novel reactor systems for recycling of PET/cotton blends. Thirty-five cellulase formulations intended for biopolishing, stonewashing, or biomass degradation were extensively characterized through biochemical assays (protein quantification, reducing sugar content, SDS-PAGE, and enzyme-specific activity assays). The formulations were further categorized according to their physical state, optimal pH and temperature class, and use case (biopolishing, stonewashing, and degradation), and trends were observed between the categories. Ten formulations were selected for further practical evaluation in a controlled reactor system to determine cotton removal efficacy from a blended PET/cotton fabric based on cotton weight loss. Enzyme activity assays did not correlate directly with reactor performance, suggesting that conventional cellulase assays may inadequately predict realworld separation efficiency. Protein efficiency was introduced as a critical metric for evaluating enzyme efficacy and economic viability. Here this variable was defined as a specific activity, relating the fiber separation efficiency in the reactor to the protein content of the formulation to indicate how effective the proteins were at separation. Formulations exhibiting balanced high performance in both weight loss and protein efficiency predominantly contained high proportions of endoglucanase activity, supported by moderate cellobiohydrolase and minor beta-glucosidase activities.

Keywords: Cellulase, polyester/cotton separation, Activity assays, Bulk hydrolysis, enzyme technology

Received: 21 May 2025; Accepted: 08 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Egan, Barta, Pointner, Herbinger, Rudolf-Scholik, Gruenfelder, Lilek, Rosenau, Guebitz and Schimper. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Christian B Schimper, Josef Ressel Centre "Recovery Strategies for Textiles", University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Biotech Campus Tulln, Tulln, Austria

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