Principal Investigator:Haskell W. Beckham

Email address: haskell.beckham@tfe.gatech.edu

Industry Partner: J & J Industries

Carpet manufacturers are losing market share in commercial settings due to perceived problems with mold and mildew growth in carpets. This has occurred most notably in the southeastern U.S. where humidity is high and environmental conditions support the growth of mold and mildew. Estimated annual losses could be as high as the total school carpet sold in the state of Florida, and this number could rise unless something is done to curtail the trend. By defining carpet constructions and treatment combinations that do not support microorganism growth, the industry should be able to protect and regain this market, estimated at approximately $25 to $50 million.

To help curtail the market loss, we are seeking to understand how carpets support microorganism growth, so that we can define a carpet construction and treatment combination that does not support microorganism growth. Our approach consists of the following: (1) identify the specific carpet components that contribute to microorganusm growth, (2) assess the effectiveness of various antimicrobial treatments using standard laboratory tests, (3) examine the effect of relative humidity and temperature on microorganism growth in carpets, (4) evaluate how and where water is absorbed into carpet, (5) evaluate the effect of different carpet constructions and treatments on water absorption and water activity, (6) conduct cleaning studies to assess their effectiveness at reducing microorganism growth, and (7) conduct a field study with treated and untreated carpet from different manufacturers.

This project is continuing, but some of the findings at this point include the following: Laboratory results show that carpet samples with antimicrobial treatments are more effective in inhibiting the growth of specific microorganisms than carpets that do not have antimicrobial treatments. However, not all antimicrobial treatments have the same effectiveness in inhibiting microorganism growth. Water absorbed into carpet ultimately concentrates in the backing region. Carpet construction parameters such as backing material have a larger influence on water absorbed and water activity than do treatment chemicals.

The field study began in August and is scheduled for completion in August 2000. During the next year, the data on water absorption/activity will be correlated with the microorganism growth studies. The anticipated results of this project are descriptions of carpet constructions that do not support microorganism growth. More specifically, physical constructions will be identified that do not trap/retain moisture that is required to support microorganism growth, and antimicrobial treatments will be identified that function against the microorganisms typically found in high-humidity environments. Results from this research will be prepared and disseminated to appropriate refereed journals by the academic researchers. Journal articles can then be cited to school systems and consultants as needed.

Principal Investigator: James A. Mulholland

Email address: james.mulholland@ce.gatech.edu

Industry Partner: Mohawk Industries

Research began in July of 1996 aimed at gaining a better understanding of air emissions from carpet manufacturing processes. Three industry partners have participated, with stack emissions sampled at eight different plants. Field tests were conducted in the springs of 1997 and 1998. Laboratory experiments were designed to simulate emissions from suessen heatsetting, beck and continuous dyeing, and latex coating. Based on these results, emission factors and potential-to-emit values were estimated. In the third year of this study reported on here, work was performed in two areas. First, a comprehensive 70-page report describing in detail an assessment of air emissions from carpet manufacturing processes was prepared and released in December, 1998. Second, a method for predicting the fractional release of trace quantities of water-soluble process chemicals, including glycol ethers, from beck dyebaths was developed through laboratory testing. Results of these two activities are highlighted in this report.

Emission factors for carpet heatsetting, dyeing and coating ranged from 1000 to 2000 mg/yd² for total volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 100 to 200 mg/yd² for total hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Total VOC and HAP potential-to-emit for the plants studied were estimated to be 50-100 tons/yr and 5-10 tons/yr, respectively. Stack emissions can be reduced by further removal of impurities in process chemicals and/or by changing chemical application formulations. Regarding suessen heatsetting, caprolactam is the major air emission from nylon 6 processing. Spinning lubricant volatiles, including long chain acids, esters and alkanes, are air emissions from nylon 6,6 heatsetting. For dyeing processes, dyebath auxiliaries, including straight chain alkanes in the case of powder dyes and long chain oxygenated hydrocarbons in the case of liquid dyes, are emitted in the beck and dryer stacks. Dryer stack emissions also include alkylbenzenes and other stainblock volatiles. Laboratory tests show that the distribution of stack emissions is in agreement with the distribution of volatiles found in the chemical applications, with fractional release ranging from less than 10 to 100%. HAPs found in the dye plant emissions included aldehydes and glycol ethers. Good agreement between laboratory and field results was found for latex coating process emissions. Depending on the styrene-butadiene latex formulations for precoat and adhesive applications, styrene and cumene (both HAPs) were detected in the stack emissions, as were Diels-Alder products 4-phenyl and 4-ethenyl cyclohexenes.

Glycol ethers, such as butyl cellosolve and butyl carbitol, were detected in the field samples at the dye and coating plants but could not be accurately quantified due to limitations in the sample collection and analysis methods employed. Since these HAPs are highly water soluble, estimating their emission by assuming that all of these compounds present in the process chemicals are released to the stack is overly conservative. Therefore, a laboratory test was developed to simulate emissions of water-soluble compounds from beck dyeing. Four model compounds were chosen for study, spanning a wide range of volatilities: 1-butanol, butyl cellosolve, butyl carbitol and diethylene glycol. Release of these compounds to the gas phase ranged from 8% to 95%. Fractional release (F_i) was found to be correlated to the product of the vapor pressure (P_v,i) and initial liquid-phase mole fraction (X_o,i) as follows:

F_i = 0.4 log (X_{o,i *} P_v,i) + 2.32

Thus, a method for estimating the fractional release of volatiles from beck dyeing has been developed.

Laboratory studies are continuing this year to develop models for estimating fractional volatile release, and, thus, provide better estimates of air emissions from carpet manufacturing processes. First, the fractional release of water-soluble process chemicals in continuous dyeing is being investigated. Second, the release of caprolactam from nylon 6 heatsetting is being studied.

Principal Investigator: Warren S. Perkins

Email address: wperkins@fcs.uga.edu

This project addressed the issue of wastewater from carpet dyeing. In 1995 and 1996 the carpet industry in Dalton, Georgia, began anticipating that Dalton Utilities would lower the allowable levels of contaminants discharged by individual carpet manufacturing plants. These carpet manufacturing plants needed information on the feasibility and costs of various technologies to lower the level of contaminants of their effluents to meet the anticipated new limits.

The objective for the first two years was to evaluate technologies that the carpet industry might use to pretreat wastewater to remove contaminants before discharging the water to Dalton Utilities. The goal for the third year was to determine if the amount of contaminants in wastewater could be lowered by source reduction. "Source reduction" means that the amounts of chemicals used in the manufacturing process are lowered or the chemicals are recovered and recycled to prevent them from getting into the wastewater.

The research showed that several alternatives are available to lower the level of contaminants in wastewater from carpet dyeing. The wastewater can be pretreated using one of several advanced technologies. Although these pretreatment technologies will lower the level of contaminants to acceptable levels, all are expensive and would add greatly to the cost of manufacturing carpet. Source reduction is also possible and is probably the most cost effective approach for carpet manufacturers to lower the level of contaminants in wastewater. A series of experiments conducted in cooperation with Solutia, Inc. (fiber manufacturer) and Shaw Industries (carpet manufacturer) revealed that the level of use of certain chemicals in the carpet manufacturing processes could be lowered without affecting either the efficiency of manufacturing processes or quality of carpet produced. Studies also showed that some of the common chemicals used in carpet manufacturing can be recovered from the wastewater and recycled.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Youjiang Wang

Email address: youjiang.wang@tfe.gatech.edu

Industry Partner: Synthetic Industries

Approximately 8 million pounds of post-consumer and industrial fibrous textile waste is discarded into landfills each year nationally, accounting for about 2% of the total solid waste disposed (based on weight fraction). About 50% of this waste is from carpet, with the main constituents being plastic fibers and binders. The fibrous textile waste decays at a very slow rate and is difficult to handle in landfills. With typical tipping fees of $50 per ton, the cost of landfilling textile waste is estimated at $200 million per year in the U.S., costing the industry over $5 million just for tipping fees. Considering other expenses associated with waste disposal and post consumer fibrous waste, the economic impact to the State’s industry is much higher. The development of high volume, low cost technologies to convert textile waste into useful products could save Georgia's textile and carpet industries over $5 million per year.

It has been widely reported in the literature that adding fibers to soil can significantly enhance the properties of soil. In the last few years, a joint research to study the feasibility of using carpet and textile waste has been conducted in the laboratory and in field trials. The participants of the study include Georgia Tech, Synthetic Industries, Shaw Industries, Georgia Department of Transportation, Pollution Prevention Assistance Division-Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG), and several Georgia Counties. CCACTI has been a major sponsor for the laboratory studies performed at Georgia Tech which clearly demonstrate the beneficial effect of adding recycled fibers to soil for construction application. We have also identified several high-impact applications that are high volume and can benefit economically by incorporating recycled fibers.

The goal of the project is to convert fibrous waste into recycled fiber products which will be commercially marketed for civil engineering applications. We estimate that over 50% of the industry fibrous waste may be used in such applications, which would save Georgia’s textile and carpet industry $2.5 million per year in landfilling cost. This project is conducted jointly with partners from the textile, carpet, and construction industry or government agencies. Synthetic Industries, our industry partner, is still evaluating the feasibility of marketing the product for such applications.

Principal Investigator: Matthew J. Realff

Email address: matthew.realff@che.gatech.edu

Industry Partner: Allied Signal

Discarded carpet represents a significant solid waste problem for the State of Georgia and for the United States in general. Finding profitable outlets for this material stream enhances the long term competitiveness of this strategic industry. In the U.S., carpet waste is estimated at 5 billion lbs/year of post consumer material, representing a 60 million dollar waste disposal cost and several hundred million dollars in lost opportunity embodied in the material. Capturing the value of this material requires sophisticated recycling systems, some of whose components are being built in the State of Georgia by companies such as Allied Signal. Allied Signal’s system will have the capacity to recycle 200 million lbs of nylon 6 carpet a year, a stream that will be valued in excess of 70 million dollars. The question we are seeking to address is how to establish and grow this system in an optimal fashion.

The design of recycling systems requires significant investment and strategic planning. We have developed a tool to help in answering strategic issues in recycling system design, such as where and when to open collection sites, what structure of the system to employ, local sorting or high-speed regional sorting, and what outlets to use for materials that are not required for further processing. This model requires specialized software to solve and the modeling activity can be overwhelming. In the last year we have developed a world-wide-web interface to this model to enable its use by a wide variety of decision makers who do not necessarily have the specialized skills to build these models or the resources necessary to solve them. We have found that the model is capable of representing decisions for network design and that it can be solved using commercial software and PC hardware. We are in the process of testing the interface with our industrial partners, and our next step is to invite broader participation from companies.

The result of our research is a flexible tool to analyze strategic decisions in recycling system design. The results of our research are being used by industry right now. The model has been used by a plastics recycling company to present its case to a major manufacturer: our tool has provided a competitive edge. If successful the tool will have helped in securing a significant contract for this company. Any company or state agency that wants to set up a model and utilize the web interface can do so by using the web site at http://rps.isye.gatech.edu.

Principal Investigator: Patti Annis

Email address: pannis@fcs.uga.edu

Industry Partners: Georgia Power. Carpet & Rug Institute, Milliken

Solid waste disposal is an important environmental issue for Georgia’s apparel, carpet, and textile manufacturers. Since initiation of this project in 1995, we have monitored types and amounts of solid waste generated by these important sectors of Georgia’s economy and how these wastes have been disposed. During the last half of this decade, the amount of solid fiberous waste generated by Georgia’s apparel, carpet, and textile manufacturers has decreased significantly and a shift from landfilling to more environmentally appropriate disposal methods has occurred (see FY98 Annual Report). During FY 98, apparel and textile manufacturers participating in this project generated more than 145 thousand tons of solid waste. Of this total, 53.3% (78.1 thousand tons) was general industrial solid waste whereas the remainder, 67.7 thousand tons, was classified as solid fibrous waste. Disposal of solid industrial waste is more problematic than disposal of fibrous waste, and during 1997 general industrial waste comprised the largest percentage of textile-related waste landfilled. Only 12% of the fibrous waste generated in 1997 was landfilled.

During FY99 our work has focused on upgrading the UGA/CCACTI Regional Reclaimable Materials Handlers Database with the goal of providing Georgia’s apparel, carpet, and textile manufacturers with more alternatives to landfilling their solid industrial waste. To achieve this goal, we used the UGA/CCACTI Solid Waste Resource, a two-part electronic data base that we developed in 1997 to 1) provide manufacturers with the name, location, and requirements of reclaimable materials handlers in the Southeastern U.S. and 2) identify textile-related recycling and reuse markets for reclaimable materials handlers. The UGA/CCACTI Solid Waste Resource is available at http://www.fcs.uga.edu/tmi/wastedb/ or indirectly from the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors at The University of Georgia. This website consistently receives 500 hits per month.

Other project activities during FY99 included direct assistance to textile and apparel manufacturers via telephone, FAX, and e-mail communication and outreach activities in the form of presentations at conferences and seminars, posters, brochures, and business cards. To date, more than 160 manufacturers have received direct assistance with their solid waste disposal problems.

This project directly relates to solid waste management, one of the issues identified by CCACTI as critical to competitiveness of the apparel, carpet, and textile industries in Georgia. Our project is unique among CCACTI projects because we have and will continue to have contact with a large percentage of Georgia’s apparel, carpet, and textile manufacturers and can provide networking opportunities for these companies with regional reclaimable materials handlers.

Principal Investigator: Patti Annis

E-mail address: pannis@fcs.uga.edu

Industry Partners: Forstmann & Company, Avondale Mills, DuPont Flooring Systems, Interface Research, Beaulieu of America, Compost Performance Systems

Wool: In 1996, personnel at Forstmann & Company, Inc., Dublin, Georgia, requested assistance in developing alternative methods for landfilling wool fibrous waste. Forstmann, the largest wool yarn and fabric manufacturing facility in the U.S., currently generates more than 360 tons of solid fibrous waste, all of which are landfilled. Initially, we demonstrated that wool fibrous waste was biodegradable when mixed with cellulosic amendments and subjected to standard composting procedures. The resultant product proved to be a nitrogen-rich, moisture retentive material that exceeded EPA’s definition of an "exceptional quality" soil amendment (Annual Report FY98). Scale-up experiments in 500 pound bioreactors at UGA subsequently demonstrated the economic feasibility of composting Forstmann’s fibrous waste. Greenhouse trials showed that the wool compost improved the fertility of potting soils used to grow turfgrass, ornamentals, and vegetables. Market research indicated that retail garden centers and the turfgrass industry would be the largest and most profitable markets for potting soil and soil amendments composed of wool compost. Currently, a full-scale composting trial at the Dublin Waste Water Treatment Plant, jointly sponsored by the City of Dublin and Laurens County, is in progress using a combination of City and Forstmann waste streams. Results of this trial are expected to provide enough information to enable the County and City to continue to process these wastes and recovery of 100% of the wool wastes generated by Forstmann will result in an avoided cost for landfilling of more than $40,000 per year. A fully operational composting facility could provide at least two new jobs, create a product that has an estimated value of $25/ton and generate a potential revenue of $500,000.

Nylon: Our success with wool prompted an investigation of the biodegradability of nylon, a fiber chemically similar to wool but extremely resistant to biodegradation. During the first year of this project, we evaluated the biodegradability of nylon in the presence of microorganisms found in a variety of common soils and confirmed nylon’s resistance to biodegradation in its natural state. During FY99 we worked to determine if chemical and enzymatic treatments could induce biodegradation. Treatments using an inorganic reagent with and without inoculation of enzyme producing organisms, were found to significantly decreased the strength and integrity of nylon 6,6. Decreases in molecular weight of the treated samples confirmed biodegradation. An organism that produced a nylon-degrading enzyme was tentatively identified as a genus Mortrierela, but the species has not been identified . Although purification of the enzyme could not be completed by the end of FY99, other researchers have reported that it is an oxidiziing adipamidase capable of attacking nylon-like materials. Currently, more than four billion pounds of preconsumer carpet waste and a significant amount of nylon fabric are discarded each year in the U.S., mostly by landfilling. Composting facilities, such as those in Cobb County, must remove nylon fabrics from their waste streams before composting can commence and current carpet recycling programs cannot consume the huge tonnage of nylon waste currently produced. Since Georgia’s 177 carpet manufacturing facilities produce more than 60% of the world’s carpet, finding an alternative method of disposal for nylon would be economically, environmentally, and competitively advantageous.

Principal Investigator: George Baughman

Email address: gbaughma@fcs.uga.edu

Industry Partners: Milliken Inc., SCT Yarns, Coats North America

Textile industries have been severely impacted by regulatory limits on treated wastewater effluents containing metals from the use of premetallized (especially azo copperized dyes) dyes. To alleviate the regulatory impact, ATMI has proposed that EPA base its limits on the concentration of free rather than bound (in the dye) metals. ATMI has further proposed an analytical method using ultrafiltration to separate metal that is contained in the dye molecule (non toxic) from metal that is external to the dyes (toxic). Characteristics of the separation method have recently been studied by ATMI and by CCACTI in coordination with EPA. Results of the study prompted critical questions concerning the fate (i.e. forms and location) of copper as a consequence of wastewater treatment, since greater than 90 percent of textile wet processing operations discharge to POTWs. Activated sludge wastewater treatment is the process most widely used by both POTWs and industry.

Further, the extent of biological degradation of metal containing dye, prior to release of dye, and the fate of the released metal is not known. Understanding these phenomena and publication of the results is necessary to alleviate EPA concerns about use of the ultrafiltration method for effluents containing azo and phthalocyanine dyes. Publication of results in a peer reviewed journal is essential for credibility with EPA.

All copperized dyes are either direct or reactive dyes and the vast majority are azo compounds. Most of the remainder are phthalocyanines, which the earlier study showed to be extremely stable. Thus, sorption of cupric ion and direct dyes was examined the first year, and the results presented here are from the complimentary study of reactive dyes. Detailed data on direct dyes can be found in the last project report. Important results from sorption studies with azo dyes are summarized below:

After four hours, an average of 47 percent of the total copper content from 10 reactive azo dyes was removed from solution by sorption to biological solids from the aeration basin. This is in contrast to the direct dyes for which an average of 91 percent was removed by the solids. For several reactive formazan and phthalocyanine dyes, the average percentage removed was respectively, 36% and 85%. In excess of 90 percent of added cupric ion was removed under similar conditions.

When grouped, data for direct dyes and reactive dyes were each surprisingly constant and nearly the same for three different treatment plants. This strongly supports use of the data to predict behavior of other direct or reactive dyes in other treatment plants. This appears to be reasonable whether or not the plants receive textile wastewater.

Direct dye results are being published and are being presented at the 1999 AATCC International Conference and Exhibition. Reactive dye results have been submitted for publication and a summary paper is in preparation. The results are also available to the American Textile Manufacturers Institute for use in their interactions with EPA.

Principal Investigator: J. Nolan Etters

Email address: netters@fcs.uga.edu

Industry Partner: Avondale Mills, Inc.

U.S. denim manufacturers annually produce over 400 million pairs of denim jeans having a value at the consumer level of about six billion dollars. Manufacture of denim used to produce jeans is a large and widespread part of the textile complex in Georgia, with manufacturing facilities or headquarters located in Columbus, Lindale, Monroe, and Trion. Each of Georgia’s denim manufacturing plants uses large quantities of indigo dye and other chemicals in dyeing and in associated chemical processes. Wastewater released from each plant may range from about 500,000 - 1,000,000 gallons per day. Opportunities exist for conservation of dyes and chemicals through optimization of the concentrations of chemicals currently used and through recovery and reuse of indigo from the effluent. Such conservation efforts can result in significant dollar savings for these manufacturers, with an associated reduction in effluent load, and lead to an improvement in the competitive position of Georgia’s denim producers.

To achieve the conservation goals of the project, three areas have been subjects of focus: 1) Inventory of chemicals used, 2) Optimization of chemical usage, and 3) Indigo recovery and reuse. In the initial phases of the project, confidential inventories of generic dyes and chemicals used at selected manufacturing sites were compiled. Samples of selected chemicals then were obtained and laboratory work was done to determine the optimum concentrations needed in the indigo dyeing process. It was found that the concentrations of some chemicals used by the denim producers were far too high. Based on results of laboratory work, recommendations were made to specific manufacturers that they attempt to confirm the laboratory findings in their commercial environment. In addition to chemical optimization efforts, techniques to recover indigo from the dyebath effluent were explored in the laboratory. Initial results are encouraging and suggest that any continued project focus should be in this area.

Two of the industry partners have confirmed that they can indeed significantly reduce the concentrations of two of the chemicals used in the indigo dyebath by 80% or more. In fact, these partners have stated that they expect to save $100,000 -200,000 per year in use of these two chemicals alone, with a significant reduction in effluent load. A typical denim manufacturer may spend as much as $13 million per year on chemical to produce denim fabric. It is expected that, when the recommendations resulting from this project are fully implemented, a 30% overall reduction in chemical usage will be possible. Such a reduction will result in a total savings of over $20 million to the five denim producers located or headquartered in Georgia. In addition, the reduction in effluent load will be substantial.

Principal Investigator: Wallace Carr

Email address: wallace.carr@textiles.gatech.edu and

Industry Partners: Callaway Chemical Company and Springs Industries, Inc.

The goal of this project is to improve productivity and flexibility of the weaving sector of the textile industry. The process of weaving yarns into fabrics involves high levels of tension and abrasion that can cause damage to the yarns. To prevent damage, a protective coating is applied to the surface of the yarns prior to weaving. This application process, known as slashing, is time-consuming and is often the bottleneck in the production of woven goods.

The current slashing system is incompatible with today’s demand activated manufacturing strategies. Due to extensive set up time, long process runs are required to obtain acceptable process efficiency. A new slashing method that is environmentally friendly and that will improve flexibility would allow the industry to offer shorter "made to order" jobs, thus making Georgia's textile industry more competitive in the world market.

The objective of the project is to design a single-end slashing process that is environmentally friendly and will improve productivity and flexibility. Accomplishing this objective involves the development of machinery/materials/process tailored specifically for such process. We have identified and fabricated devices for applying size in a regulated fashion to yarn. Size solutions, provided by an industrial partner, Callaway Chemical Company, have been selected as the candidate size material for the process in which cotton yarn, provided by an industrial partner, Springs Industries, Inc., are being sized and evaluated. After drying/fixing methods were studied, an infrared (IR) system was selected. A set up for sizing and drying the yarn has been constructed.

Preliminary sizing tests were performed, and procedures for evaluating the sized yarn were established. The next steps in the research are: 1. to optimize the size application technique ; 2. to optimize the sizing material; 3. to improve the system for fixing size on the spinning frame; 4. to evaluate the feasibility of a pilot-scale system for single-end sizing; and 5. if feasible, to begin preparation of system design for single-end sizing in a commercial plant.

Successful application of the single-end sizing process currently being studied could greatly improve productivity and flexibility that is needed to allow to short run, quick response, capability necessary to meet today's global competition. The next step will be to translate the process to pilot-scale sizing on a spinning frame. Successful demonstration of the pilot-scale process could lead to demonstration on a commercial machine.

Principal Investigator: Charles Q. Yang

Email address: cyang@fcs.uga.edu

Industry Partner: Callaway Chemical Company, Springs Industries

Since the early 1990s, the market place has shown a steady increase in the demand for wrinkle-free cotton fabrics/garment. The major cotton textile manufacturers, such as Oxford Industries, Thomston Mills, Avondale, and Mount Vernon, all have durable press finishing operations in the state of Georgia. Callaway Chemical Company supplies durable press finishes as well as other additives used in durable press finish formulations. The overwhelming majority of the durable press finishes used today are formaldehyde-based DMDHEU and modified "low formaldehyde" DMDHEU. In spite of the cost-effectiveness of the formaldehyde-based reagents, the release of formaldehyde vapor during a finishing process presents health risk to the workers in textiles and garment manufacturers with the finishing operations. Formaldehyde is regulated as a carcinogen by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the U.S. (Standard 1910.10480). The use of DMDHEU systems increases toxicity in the wastewater due to the formaldehyde content in the finishes. Formaldehyde vapor release from finished cotton products has also caused increasing concern among the consumers. In addition, the cotton fabrics/garment treated with formaldehyde-based finishes show severe tensile strength. In summary, the use of formaldehyde-based reagents in the textile mills has adverse effects on the safety of the workers, the environment, the consumer, and the product quality.

In this project, we developed two potential nonformaldehyde alternatives (the low cost BTCA and glutaraldehyde) to replace the formaldehyde-based durable press finishing agents. The textile industry in the state of Georgia will benefit from this project in the following aspects: (1) to eliminate the risk to human health in the workplace caused by formaldehyde vapor and to assure compliance with federal regulations; (2) to eliminate any formaldehyde in the waste water originated from DP finishing processes; (3) to improve the mechanical strength and safety of DP finished products. Therefore, the competitiveness of those Georgia-based textile, apparel and textile chemical companies will be improved.

Callaway chemical Company has already formed a joint venture and obtained licenses to produce and market polycarboxylic acids-based nonformaldehyde DP finishes. The results from this project will provide Callaway Chemical Company’s product line with more nonformaldehyde DP finish alternatives.