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 Cl(2)–ClO(2) 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.