Trends in the textile industry show a continuous increase in the production and sale of textile materials, which in turn generates a huge amount of discarded clothing every year. This has a negative impact on the environment, on one side, by consuming resources—some of them non-renewables (to produce synthetic polymers)—and on the other side, by polluting the environment through the emission of GHGs (greenhouse gases), the generation of microplastics, and the release of toxic chemicals in the environment (dyes, chemical reagents, etc.). When natural polymers (e.g., cellulose, protein fibers) are used for the manufacturing of clothes, the negative impact is transferred to soil pollution (e.g., by using pesticides, fertilizers). In addition, for the manufacture of clothes from natural fibers, large amounts of water are consumed for irrigation. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), the consumption of clothing is expected to increase by 63%, from 62 million tonnes in 2019 to 102 million tonnes in 2030. The current article aims to review the latest technologies that are suitable for better disposal of large quantities of textile waste.

This paper reviews the advantages and disadvantages of the use of fertilizers obtained from leather waste, to ameliorate the agricultural soil quality. The use of leather waste (hides and skins) as raw materials to obtain biopolymer-based fertilizers is an excellent example of a circular economy. This allows the recovery of a large quantity of the tanning agent in the case of tanned wastes, as well as the valorization of significant quantities of waste that would be otherwise disposed of by landfilling. The composition of organic biopolymers obtained from leather waste is a rich source of macronutrients (nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium), and micronutrients (boron, chloride, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel and zinc), necessary to improve the composition of agricultural soils, and to remediate the degraded soils. This enhances plant growth ensuring better crops. The nutrient release tests have demonstrated that, by using the biofertilizers with collagen or with collagen cross-linked with synthetic polymers, the nutrient release can be controlled and slowed. In this case, the loss of nutrients by leaching into the inferior layers of the soil and ground water is minimized, avoiding groundwater contamination, especially with nitrate.

Essential oils were obtained from different parts of Agastache foeniculum (Lophanthus anisatus) plants by means of extraction: green extraction using hydro-distillation (HD) and bio-solvent distillation, BiAD, discontinuous distillation, and supercritical fluid extraction, in two stages: (1) with CO₂, and (2) with CO₂ and ethanol co-solvent. The extraction yields were determined. The yield values varied for different parts of the plant, as well as the method of extraction. Thus, they had the values of 0.62 ± 0.020 and 0.92 ± 0.015 g/100 g for the samples from the whole aerial plant, 0.75 ± 0.008 and 1.06 ± 0.005 g/100 g for the samples of leaves, and 1.22 ± 0.011 and 1.60 ± 0.049 g/100 g for the samples of flowers for HD and BiAD, respectively. The yield values for supercritical fluid extraction were of 0.94 ± 0.010 and 0.32 ± 0.007 g/100 g for the samples of whole aerial plant, 0.9 ± 0.010 and 1.14 ± 0.008 g/100 g for the samples of leaves, and 1.94 ± 0.030 and 0.57 ± 0.003 g/100 g for the samples of flowers, in the first and second stages, respectively. The main components of Lophanthus anisatus were identified as: estragon, limonene, eugenol, chavicol, benzaldehyde, and pentanol. The essential oil from Agatache foeniculum has antimicrobial effects against Staphylococcus aureus, the Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Acclimatization of Lophantus anisatus in Romania gives it special qualities by concentrating components such as: estragole over 93%, limonene over 8%, especially in flowers; and chavicol over 14%, estragole over 30%, eugenol and derivatives (methoxy eugenol, methyl eugenol, etc.) over 30% and phenyl ether alcohol over 20% in leaves. As a result of the research carried out, it was proven that Lophanthus anisatus can be used as a medicinal plant for many diseases, it can be used as a spice and preservative for various foods, etc.

Bisphenol-A (BPA) represents an important co-monomer for obtaining polycarbonate, epoxy resins, flame retardants, in paint, and other chemicals products. Products containing BPA are widely used, and thus, we can find it in the environment: in the air, in the soil, in natural surface water and in sediments, underground water in landfills, and in wastewater. BPA disturbs human and animals’ health. This influences the enzymatic, androgenic, neurological, liver and reproductive systems at different stages of human life: like in fetal stage, children and adults’ stages. Taking these inconveniences into account, it is very important to remove BPA from water. Ultrasonic technology can be considered a verry sustainable and efficient method to remove BPA from water. The advantages of this method is easy to implement on existing water treatment and purification facilities, it does not produce residual compounds that produce sludge, the time required for degradation is of the order of 1-2 hours and the level of degradation is very high. In this work, we presented the studies on the efficiency of ultrasonics under air atmosphere on the degradation of BPA. The influence of the frequency and of some additional compounds such as carbon tetrachloride, FeSO4 7H2O (FS), and ethyl anthraquinone (EAC) was studied. Three different frequencies were used: 1146 KHz, 864 KHz, 580 KHz, at a power of 50 W. It was identified the efficiency of BPA degradation over a period of 60 minutes, with sampling every 15 minutes. Using the LC-MS/MS technique, the degradation compounds were identified that result from the application of ultrasound processes. Pathways of BPA degradation were also proposed.