In order to export to the EU and to become a member, it will be necessary to strictly respect the requirements of this community, to respect the rules of the game, to import raw materials that meet the standards of the importing country on the final product, as well as to apply procedures, finishing agents and colours that comply with EU regulations. This is not a complex obligation, and considering that the Republic of Macedonia is not a producer of such assets. Also, if already made yarns or fabrics are already finished, they have to be finished in accordance with the standards of the country of delivery for which they should have certified documentation.
The observations indicate that with the global warming, it is expected that in a decade the total quantity of water in the world and in our country will be reduced. As a result of the growing consumption and the more restrictive sources of clean water, prices are increasing and there is a need for saving, recycling and reusing. This can be achieved by selecting automated equipment with possibilities for a computer running the process. Also a critical review of colouring, printing, washing, recycling purposes should be made in order to reduce or replace toxic and dangerous chemical agents with biodegradable ones as well as a selection of methods for purification of wastewater in accordance with the legal provisions.
Waste water can be collected in collectors and purified by physical, chemical, biological and combined methods. When selecting the method, the economic justification should be strictly observed, and for these reasons the most commonly used in textile industry are: coagulation, flocculation, membrane filtration, etc. During the purification, new toxic compounds should not be created.
Origin and characteristics of wastewater from the textile industry
In the textile industry, a lot of water is consumed, and at the same time it is a large water pollutant. There are many processes in the textile industry and most of them are composed of a number of stages each of which is characterized by its pollutants. These waters are usually heavily alkaline, with high BOD values and the content of the suspended solids, and are characterized by high temperatures. The most polluting dirt that is extracted from the fibers and chemicals used in the production processes, as well as waste from the fibers themselves. In the industry, mainly three types of materials are used: cotton, wool and synthetic fibers. Cotton processing involves multiple operations. The raw cotton is combing, purring, wrapping, sticking up and weaving or knitting before sending it to final finish. The above operations, apart from the starch, are mechanical, so that there is no waste water. Following these processes, the starch is removed, followed by wet processes that involve removing the natural impurities from the cotton. Namely, it is welded, white, mercerized, printed and painted. Then there are some finishing processes, which help to increase the resistance to wrinkling, achieve dimensional stability, a certain opacity, hydrophobic ties, etc.