Sunday, April 3, 2022

Textile Dyeing Pollution & Solution III - Sustainability!

Water-saving and environmental protection in the garment industry are the precise meaning of: SUSTAINABILITY!

FashionUnited[1]

Figures published by the European Environment Agency state that for every person in the EU, textile consumption requires 9 cubic meters of water, 400 square meters of land, and 391kg of raw materials, and causes a carbon footprint of about 270 kg.

The EU is also calling for innovation in the sector, with producers taking responsibility for their products along the value chain with sufficient capacities for recycling and minimal incineration and landfilling.

Garments will be labelled so that clearer information on textiles and a digital product passport will inform consumers of each facet of the garments they purchase. It further empowers people to tackle greenwashing by ensuring the accuracy of companies’ green claims.

Ultimately the goal is to stop overproduction and overconsumption, and discourage the destruction of unsold or returned textiles.

EURONEWS[2]

We will have to wait until more details emerge in 2023, but the centerpiece of its plans is an EU-wide Extended Producer Responsibility scheme. This will make fashion brands pay a waste fee for every item they sell.

The less ecological the item, the higher the fee.

PUNCHLINE[3]

Neill Ricketts, chief executive of Versarien, said:

"We have been aware for a while that there is a need for textiles to be more friendly to the environment, the use of valuable resources needed in the current methods of production are simply not sustainable."

EURONEWS[4]

However, there is one source of environmental damage from textiles that is too often overlooked - the traditional dyeing process. Most of our clothes are still coloured using industrial dye and chemical baths, which have barely changed in centuries.

SOLUTION[5]

Since many years I am trying to apply my idea “Digital dyeing” that will save up to 70% water consumption in the dyeing process (Disperse for Polyester, Reactive for all cellulosic, Silk and Polyamide – wide application range)  against conventional process, and now the demand for innovation is higher and the call for environmental protection is  a must.[6]

Making manufacturing more sustainable[7]

My company, Alchemie Technology, based in Cambridge, is one of the clean tech firms determined to make a difference and introduce more sustainable manufacturing processes to the fashion industry.

Our digital dyeing EndeavourTM machine, which produces no wastewater and reduces energy consumption by 85 per cent compared to traditional dyeing, is now in production.

Despite the very few data released on the process and the application – Technical Data Sheet shows only the comparison between traditional and digital for Disperse Dyeing on Polyester only - but I have to highlight and we all have to support such a great effort and innovation.

Reminder

 “2.1 BILLION PEOPLE GLOBALLY DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO CLEAN, SAFE DRINKING WATER.

3.4 MILLION PEOPLE DIE EACH YEAR FROM SCARCE AND CONTAMINATED WATER”[8]

 



[1] https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/europe-to-crackdown-on-fast-fashion/2022033162347

[2] https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/03/31/fast-fashion-will-be-held-accountable-for-clothing-quality-toxic-chemicals-and-waste-says-

[3] https://www.punchline-gloucester.com/articles/aanews/fast-fashion-crackdown-good-news-for-alternatives

[4] https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/02/26/dyeing-for-fashion-why-the-fashion-industry-is-causing-20-of-water-pollution

[5] https://nagyroshdy.blogspot.com/2022/01/textile-dyeing-pollution-solution-i.html

[6] https://nagyroshdy.blogspot.com

[7] https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/02/26/dyeing-for-fashion-why-the-fashion-industry-is-causing-20-of-water-pollution

[8] https://wholives.org/our-mission/mission/

1 comment:

  1. I always follow your blogs with great interest thanks to the innovative ideas in the field such as textiles that we share. I am therefore pleased to note that the European Community is taking appropriate measures with regard to the production procedures of eco-friendly clothing.

    ReplyDelete