doi: 10.18178/ijesd.2026.17.1.1562
Valorisation of Silk Textile Industry Wastewater for Sustainable Agriculture: Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing of Sericin Biostimulant Application in Lettuce Cultivation
Claudio Capuzzimati1,*
,
Valentina Buzzi Franzoso1 ,
Marzio Sorlini1 ,
Stefano Corsi2 ,
Giovanni Bergna3
- 1Dipartimento Tecnologie Innovative, Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
- 2Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Ambientali - Produzione, Territorio, Agroenergia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italia
- 3Lariana Depur SpA, Fino Mornasco, Italy
- Manuscript receivedJune 23, 2025
- revisedAugust 1, 2025
- acceptedSeptember 17, 2025
- publishedJanuary 19, 2026
Abstract
The silk textile industry produces high volumes ofwastewater during the degumming process, which removessericin, a water-soluble protein coating raw silk fibres. Most ofthis sericin is currently lost in effluents, with limited reuse forcosmetics and biomedical solutions. Given the promising resultsof sericin in promoting seed germination, enhancing plantgrowth, and improving tolerance to abiotic stress, this studyexplores its novel agricultural application by assessing therecovery and reuse of sericin as a biostimulant in lettucecultivation. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life CycleCosting (LCC) studies are conducted to evaluate theenvironmental and economic feasibility of three scenarios, using1 kg of lettuce as the functional unit. The first scenario reflectsthe current system: wastewater is treated conventionally, andlettuce is grown using standard methods. In the second scenario,sericin is concentrated via ultrafiltration to a 5% w/v solution,then stabilised, diluted, transported, and applied to crops. Thethird scenario proposes a simplified route: the degummingwastewater is diluted and directly applied to the field, bypassingother processing steps. Findings reveal that the third scenarioachieves the best results both in terms of environmentalperformance and economic viability, showing a 40%improvement over the second scenario on selected impactindicators. Sensitivity analysis confirms its benefits within areasonable transport distance. Beyond replacing wastewatertreatment, this approach converts a waste stream into anagricultural resource, aligning with circular economy principles.The study also highlights the processes that contribute most tooverall impacts and demonstrates the potential of sericinvalorisation as a sustainable solution in the agricultural sector.
Keywords
- sustainability
- circular economy
- life cycle assessment
- life cycle costing
- Sericin
- wastewater treatment
- agriculture
How to Cite
Claudio Capuzzimati, Valentina Buzzi Franzoso, Marzio Sorlini, Stefano Corsi, and Giovanni Bergna, "Valorisation of Silk Textile Industry Wastewater for Sustainable Agriculture: Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing of Sericin Biostimulant Application in Lettuce Cultivation," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 39-47, 2026. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijesd.2026.17.1.1562
Copyright & License
Copyright © 2026 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).