Sustainable textile

LCA for 501s ... Levi's iconic 501 brand of jeans was put through a full life cycle assessment which revealed a number of valuable insights One pair of jeans uses equivalent to 3 days’ water usage by the average American family And CO2 equivalent 69 miles driven by the average American car Life...

Collaborative solution to ghost fishing ... Collaborative programme for gathering and recycling old nylon fishing nets makes a business case for saving vulnerable marine environments 80 387 kilograms of discarded fishing nets have already been collected ready to be made into new yarns One of the...

Proof is in the savings ... Innovative solution can help transform an energy and high-impact water-proofing process into a cleaner, more cost-effective one The process uses 80 % less chemical substances, and completely eliminates the need for rinsing water Europlasma has quickly grown from a start...

This solution is just to 'dye' for ... New scaled-up dyeing solution is faster and uses less materials and energy, which saves costs Innovative clean technology successfully combines profitability with sustainability DyeCoo, based in Weesp, The Netherlands, has developed the first large-scale 100 %...

Eco-elegance, by design... At Isku, responsible design means taking into account the environment in a product's whole life cycle The award-winning Kivikko seat is a prime eco-design example Isku is a Finnish furniture producer and retailer, founded in 1928. The company's mission is to provide...

Finishing is a series of processing operations applied to a textile material that improves its appearance, performance, ‘hand’ (feel) and/or functional properties. Finishing processes are usually applied directly to fabrics after, or in combination with, dyeing. Technologies available for mechanical...

Dyeing can take place at multiple stages within the supply chain, from dyeing fibres and yarns through to fabrics and garments. The environmental impact of dyeing is related to the type of dye, type of material being dyed, application method used, stage applied and overall desired effect. In general...

The cold truth Reactive dyes are the family of dyes generally used to dye cotton, viscose, and other cellulosic fibres. However, reactive dyeing requires vast amounts of salt, water and energy. The process is also quite inefficient, leading to low fixation rates (approximately 75 %). This means that...

Experts estimate that up to 11 % of the 'cradle-to-factory gate' carbon footprint of a 100 % polyester ladies top, for example, is due to the yarn dyeing stage. Coloured polyester fibres may be more expensive than standard uncoloured ones since they include the cost of dye pigments added before the...

Research by WRAP estimates that around 200 000 tonnes of waste are produced during garment manufacturing each year in the UK. The research provides detail on the combined losses for cotton and polyester garments. The data suggests that between 10 % and 20 % of losses are incurred in the finishing...

Inspired by nature ... for nature Durable water repellent (DWR) is a finish added to fabrics to make them water-resistant. The pores on the water-repellent fabric remain open so it can 'breathe', making the garments comfortable to wear. DWR wears off over time, so retreatment (e.g. spray-on products...

Extending the lifetime of a product (asset) has a number of environmental advantages: less resource extraction, less energy embedded (the direct and indirect energy required to produce goods plus the energy needed to source and process raw materials they contain) and less waste generated...