Students of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Jember (Unej), East Java, won a gold medal in the international scientific writing event in the environmental field, Asean Innovative Science Environmental and Entrepreneur Fair (AISEEF) 2022. The international competition organized by the Indonesia Young Scientist Association (IYSA) with Diponegoro University on 2-4 February 2022 was attended by 447 teams from 20 countries. "Our paper was raised from concerns in the management of liquid waste produced by the textile industry because if this liquid waste is not managed properly, it can damage the soil and water environment," said Danil Eka Fahrudin, the head of the student team on Friday, February 18, 2022.

Danil and his friends, namely Nur Laila Magvira, Ahmad Burhanudin, Reza Maulana, and Safira Ummah submitted a scientific paper entitled "Textile Wastewater Bioremediation Using Bacterial Enzyme for Free Pollutant Industrial Environment".

"Waste is toxic and when it is released carelessly into the environment or into the soil, it will physically damage the soil because the good bacteria that make up the soil will die. Likewise, if it is released into the water, for example into a river, it is even more dangerous," he said.

He said that liquid waste from the textile industry cannot decompose by itself and if it is disposed of carelessly the impact will leave sediment or residue that will continue to poison the soil and water because it cannot be decomposed.

"Therefore, we are conducting research on how to make the liquid waste produced by the textile industry decompose by itself. We add Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria as a decomposer," said the student of the Agrotechnology Study Program.

Danil explained that the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa can decompose water that has been contaminated with fabric dyes, so that after textile wastewater decomposes from fabric dyes and toxins, the waste can be safely released into the environment.

"In our research, it shows that the liquid textile waste added with Pseudomonas aeruginosa slowly fades. It took about a month for the water to become clean, which means all the colors and toxins have been decomposed," he said.

Although his scientific work is still limited to the results of research in the laboratory, he hopes that it will soon be implemented to help manage the textile industry's liquid waste that has the potential to damage the environment.

The price of bacterial isolates, said Danil, is still quite expensive. However, according to him, it can still be reproduced independently. The price per 100 milliliters ranges from Rp. 300 thousand to 400 thousand. "The bacteria can be cultured so that it can save costs because once you buy it, it can be used forever by multiplying it yourself," said this Jember University student.