In recent years, about 10% of the total wastes generated around the world were fabric wastes and, due to the large volume of these wastes, should be well managed. Among the various types of fabrics, some have greater biodegradability and can be decomposed at the acceptable rates under controlled conditions. In this study, the disintegration of linen fabric was investigated under composting conditions. During the composting process, temperature, moisture, and aeration were controlled. According to FTIR spectra of linen fabrics during the composting process, the disintegration of linen fibers was identified as the breakdown of carbonyl groups and hydrogen bonds of cellulosic chains. Regarding the SEM images of linen fabrics, the composting process in the first 45 days led to the breakdown of the fibers, and in the second 45 days of the process, most of the fibers were degraded. Since in the second 45 days of the process, the compost pile temperature is always between 39 and 44 °C and 65-70 °C, it can be concluded that the rate of microbial disintegration of the linen fabric is higher at these temperatures. At the end of the test, the disintegration value of the linen fabric was 55% and the weight loss due to organic matter conversion was 61%. The samples weight loss showed that linen fabric has high biodegradability under composting conditions. The germination index (GI) of the resulting compost was 73.88%, which indicates the produced compost is mature.
Keywords: Biodegradability; Composting; EN 14806; Germination test; Lab-scale; Linen fabric.