Biodegradation of natural textile materials in soil

World is facing numerous environmental challenges, one of them being the increasing pollution both in theatmosphere and landfi lls. After the goods have been used, they are either buried or burnt. Both ways of disposalare detrimental and hazardous to the environment. The term biodegradation is becoming more andmore important, as it converts materials into water, carbon dioxide and biomass, which present no harm tothe environment. Nowadays, a lot of research is performed on the development of biodegradable polymers,which can “vanish” from the Earth surface after being used. In this respect, this research work was conductedin order to study the biodegradation phenomenon of cellulosic and non-cellulosic textile materials whenburied in soil, for them to be used in our daily lives with maximum effi ciency and after their use, to be disposedof easily with no harmful eff ects to the environment. This research indicates the time span of the uselife of various cellulosic and non-cellulosic materials such as cotton, jute, linen, fl ax, wool when used for thereinforcement of soil. The visual observations and applied microscopic methods revealed that the biodegradationof cellulose textile materials proceeded in a similar way as for non-cellulosic materials, the only differencebeing the time of biodegradation. The non-cellulosic textile material (wool) was relatively more resistantto microorganisms due to its molecular structure and surface.Keywords: biodegradation, composting, natural textile materials, FT-I