Improved efficacy of ultrafiltered xylanase–pectinase concoction in biobleaching of plywood waste soda pulp

The effect of ultrafiltered xylanase-pectinase concoction produced simultaneously by a bacterial isolate using agro-waste-based media was assessed in prebleaching of plywood waste pulp. Ultrafiltered enzymes caused 12.5% reduction in kappa number at reduced enzyme dose of xylanase-pectinase (4.0-0.8 IU) per gram of pulp under optimized conditions at pH 8.5, temperature 55 °C, and treatment period of 2 h. Using this methodology, amount of Cl2-ClO2 consumption can be reduced up to 30 and 28.86%. Significant improvement in physical and optical properties of pulp was obtained along with an additional reduction in BOD and COD values up to 18.13 and 21.66% using this novel biodelignification approach. This is the first report showing the advantages of using ultrafiltered xylanase-pectinase over crude enzymes in enhancing the bleaching capacity of pulp. This study focussing on the development of good quality paper with less pollution generating strategy will definitely prove a boon for industries.