From the Sector

Intelligently designed clothes made with the latest manufacturing technology are the results of the partnership between on of the leading denim innovators ISKO and the Italian brand HIGH. A project, part of the SS2021 HIGH collection, is the start of collaboration in the pursuit of sustainable fashion.

Aimed at bringing a positive change both for the planet and its people, the project presents two pieces – jacket and pants – which embody HIGH’s approach to creativity and production: a wellbalanced mix of specialists’ expertise and a tireless investigation on the latest and most responsible fabric technologies. HIGH identified the R-TWO™ program as the right fabric ingredient, ideal to level up sustainability in its looks.

Relying on a blend of reused and recycled materials, this revolutionary platform works by embedding material circularity into the production process, designing waste out of the system and minimizing impact at scale. With fully traced reused cotton coming from ISKO’s production loss, which is prevented from becoming waste by adding it back into the spinning process, and an efficient use of polyester materials which are spun into newly recycled fibers, the program can provide certified to Textile Exchange environmental credentials. According to the percentage of material contained, these can be either the Content Claim Standard, Global Recycled Standard, Organic Content Standard or Recycled Claim Standard, ensuring better use of raw materials and resource efficiency while providing advanced concepts that don’t compromise on their look and performance.

Additionally, to meet HIGH’s performance needs, ISKO has brought to the table one of its most popular technologies, of course in its R-TWO™ version: Jeggings™, super-stretch denim technology. Soft and lightweight as leggings, it provides comfort with the look of authentic denim and provides the perfect, responsible solution to usher the partnership.

Sorpol Ltd., a leading importer and distributor of industrial raw materials in Israel, has launched a website to sell Acteev Protect™ masks, made in the USA by polyamide manufacturer Ascend Performance Materials. The two companies also plan to partner in the distribution of Acteev surgical masks, N95 respirators, nonwoven media and textile fabrics as they become available.

Laboratory tests have demonstrated Acteev fabric effective at deactivating 99.9% of the viruses SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19, and H1N1, a flu virus. Acteev technology also eliminates bacteria and fungi.

Ofer Soreq, Sorpol’s marketing director, said the Acteev Protect line fits in neatly with the mission of the company.

Recent testing on Acteev fabric completed at the University of Cambridge has demonstrated that Acteev technology deactivates the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, with 99.9% efficacy on contact. Ascend has submitted several masks designs to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to obtain the appropriate regulatory clearances to make specific claims regarding the technology’s antiviral properties in the United States.

In addition to antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial protection, the washable, reusable masks are lightweight, breathable and odor-fighting, making them comfortable to wear during a long shift at work or for outdoor workouts.

Acteev Protect shows promise for use beyond masks, according to Ascend. The technology was originally developed for workout wear, and now the company is working on textile applications ranging from gloves to scrubs to high-end athleisure

The Turkish textile industry, which continues its exports and investments without slowing down despite the devastating pandemic, once again proved its strength, especially in this period. ITM 2021 Exhibition, which will be held in Istanbul between 22 and 26 June 2021, will provide a great advantage to companies that desire to expand their investments and introduce their brand new technologies.

Although there were slowdowns in the textile industry in April and May this year due to the troublesome coronavirus pandemic , the Turkish textile industry succeeded a big breakthrough with the removal of restrictions in June, thanks to both its textile production infrastructure and international exports capacity. The exports of the textile and raw materials sector increased and the companies turned to new investments. While many local companies enlarged their facilities, some of them made new investment decisions. For example, while a giant hygienic and medical fabric production facility was invested in Çorlu, another Turkish company, a global brand in textile machinery production, decided to invest 40 million Turkish Lira. Gaziantep-based spunbond and meltblown nonwoven manufacturer company added two new meltblown lines to its operations. Another company also began to invest in the production of raw materials that they import. This investment activity in Turkey, where is a manufacturing base of European customers whet the appetite of international investors. One of South Korea's largest conglomerates has rolled up its sleeves for an investment of 430 million US Dollars in Çerkezköy. Due to the investments, the purchase of textile machinery increased by 37.1 percent in the first nine months of 2020 amounting to over 1 billion US Dollars.

The Accurate Address for Investment Decisions: ITM 2021 Exhibition
Although the companies took advantage of the pandemic period as an opportunity and continued their investments, many of them are waiting for the ITM 2021 Exhibition for large machinery purchases. ITM 2021 Exhibition, which will be held between 22 and 26 June 2021 at Istanbul Tüyap Fair and Congress Center, will gather thousands of participating companies and visitors under one roof. The company officials, who will have the opportunity to observe the latest technological products to be exhibited by the international and domestic exhibitors, will direct their investments by meeting with the experts of the sector. The machines produced for technical textiles, which became even more important during the devastating pandemic period, will attract the attention of visitors. Thanks to the machinery purchases and business partnerships of both domestic and international companies, there will be great dynamism in the textile industry and the national economy.

• Miles Johnson and ISKO’s Creative Room present the new responsible collection.

The second edition of this partnership tells the story of a unique combination of creativity and expertise brought to the table by ISKO’s style and design center, Creative Room Italy, and the innovative designer Miles Johnson, resulting in a collection featuring responsible R-TWO™ fabrics and a selection of sustainable accessories and details.

An act of care for the planet and its people, Light on the Land 2.0 is the new capsule designed by Miles Johnson and ISKO. Former Design Director at Levi Strauss & Co. and Senior Creative Director of Product Design and Development at Patagonia, Inc., Miles joined forces with Creative Room and Iskoteca, ISKO’s Italian style and washing research hubs, to develop a collection that brings responsibility in the fashion industry to the next level.

The project includes 32 unique pieces, each of them realized with seasonless designs and sustainably-minded details. All the fabrics used in the collection were carefully selected from ISKO’s R-TWO™ platform. Using a mixture of reused cotton and recycled fibers, the technique embeds material circularity into the production processes, designing waste out of the system and minimizing impact at scale. Certified to Textile Exchange environmental credentials according to the percentage of materials contained, R-TWO™ ensures better use of raw materials and resource efficiency. ISKO’s Environmental Product Declarations (EPD®s), available for all its +25,000 products, offer a unique opportunity to measure the impact of R-TWO™’s savings in the Lifecycle Assessments (LCAs) framework, where resource savings can be seen in carbon impact, water-use reductions and many other impact KPIs.

Light on the Land 2.0 incorporates responsible design principles such as Cadica’s new and innovative trims, made of vegan apple “leather”, and has been developed using ecoconscious finishing techniques. The collection also features many additional sustainable facets such as efficient low-waste pattern cutting and design, efficient sewing methods, removeable rivets for end-of-life and biodegradable thread which can be removed at high heats.

“When we first started working on this project, we knew it was going to be amazing,” explained Massimo Munari, Manager and Art director Creative Room, ISKO. “To design a collection like this, you need to begin with the right mindset and of course, the right materials. R-TWO was the perfect ingredient, thanks to the re-used and re-cycled content. We then aimed to minimize impact at all stages: incorporating sustainable design ideas, washing processes and trims. We are proud to have created such an inspiring, and sustainable collection, and to bring our collective vision to light.”

Due to the unprecedented challenges of this time, the collection was entirely developed through remote working and creative solutions to ensure the safety and health of all parties involved. To this end, everyone was kept safe thanks to ISKO Vital™+ reusable and eco-friendly face covers, created with organic cotton to cater for comfort and sustainability.

• Monforts customer Kipaş has been selected as the sole denim manufacturing partner in the €6.7 million European Union-funded New Cotton Project, involving the brands adidas and H&M, working in a consortium with suppliers, innovators and research institutes.

Kipaş, based in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, is currently installing its third Monforts Montex stenter along with a third Monfortex compressive shrinkage system in a combined configuration dedicated to denim production.

This follows the successful installation and commissioning of the second Montex and Monfortex lines at the Kahramanmaraş plant in 2018, which Kipaş Vice Chairman of the Board Ahmet Öksüz said had immediately exceeded expectations.

“We performed a very thorough technical investigation based on the latest Industry 4.0 analysis before the purchase, to determine what we needed, and the Monforts technology met all our requirements,” he said, in an interview with Textilegence magazine. “The Monfortex is equipped with a variety of features not found on classical shrinkage machines and the production can be monitored from beginning to end. It also exceeded our expectations in energy cost savings.”

Kipaş subsequently received a special certificate from Monforts in recognition of its exceptional utilisation of the technology to its full potential.

The latest Montex stenter now being installed at Kipaş is a 12-chamber unit with a working width of 2 metres featuring all of the latest automation features. The Monfortex unit, also with a working width of 2 metres, is in a ‘double rubber’ configuration, comprising two compressive shrinkage units and two felt calenders in line. This allows the heat setting of elastane fibres and the residual shrinkage of the denim to be carried out simultaneously, for a significant increase in production speeds.

“Around 90-95% of denim fabric production now contains elastane fibres and the Monforts system has allowed us to simultaneously increase our production and quality in this respect,” Mr Öksüz said.

Regenerated cotton
For the next three years within the New Cotton Project, Kipaş will manufacture denim fabrics based on the cellulose-based fibres of Infinited Fiber Company of Finland, made from post-consumer textile waste that has been collected, sorted and regenerated.

The patented technology of Infinited, which is leading the consortium of 12 companies, turns cellulose-rich textile waste into fibres that look and feel like cotton.

“We are very excited and proud to lead this project which is breaking new ground when it comes to making circularity in the textile industry a reality,” said Infinited co-founder and CEO Petri Alava. “The enthusiasm and commitment with which the entire consortium has come together to work towards a cleaner, more sustainable future for fashion is truly inspiring.”

Take-back programmes
Adidas and H&M will establish take-back programmes to collect the clothing that is produced, to determine the next phase in their lifecycle. Clothing that can no longer be worn will be returned to Infinited, for regeneration into new fibres, further contributing to a circular economy in which textiles never go to waste, but instead are reused, recycled or turned into new garments.

The aim is to prove that circular, sustainable fashion can be achieved today, and to act as an inspiration and stepping stone to further, even bigger circular initiatives by the industry going forward.

The EU has identified the high potential for circularity within the textile industry, while simultaneously highlighting the urgent need for the development of technologies to produce and design sustainable and circular bio-based materials. Making sustainable products commonplace, reducing waste and leading global efforts on circularity are outlined in the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan.

Fashion brands produce nearly twice as many clothes today as they did 20 years ago and demand is expected to continue growing. At the same time, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second. Most of the textile industry’s environmental problems relate to the raw materials used by the industry – cotton, fossil-based fibres such as polyester, and viscose as the most common man-made cellulosic fibre, are all associated with serious environmental concerns.

The Lenzing Group scored a total of 30.5 points (4 points more compared to last year) and received for the first time a leading dark green shirt, the highest Hot Button ranking category. Lenzing once again convinced the non-profit organization Canopy with its innovative vision with regard to circular economy and REFIBRA™ technology, its high level of transparency in wood and pulp sourcing, as well as its active contribution towards protecting forests and preserving biodiversity.

In this widely recognized ranking, Canopy grades the world’s 31 largest producers of wood-based fibers with respect to their sustainable wood and pulp sourcing, their efforts with regard to using alternative non-wood feedstock and their achievements for lasting conservation in critical forests round the globe.

Leading in sustainable sourcing with a decade-long clean record
Wood and pulp are the most important raw materials for Lenzing’s sustainable production of cellulosic fibers. The Lenzing Group is particularly proud of its decade-long clean record of sustainable wood sourcing, evidenced by its long-standing credible commitment to wood certification, which Lenzing pioneered already in the 1990s. Lenzing’s commercial wood sources are  100 percent either certified by FSC® or PEFC™, or controlled in line with FSC® standards.

Social impact and afforestation project in Albania
At the backdrop of Lenzing’s long history of clean sourcing, the company is even more aware that the global forests are seriously threatened by illegal logging and deforestation but also by the consequences of climate change. This is why Lenzing – in addition to supporting a number of Canopy’s conservation projects – has set up a social impact and afforestation project in Albania (Southern Europe).*

Special focus on sustainable plantations in Brazil
For its latest investment in a pulp mill in Brazil, Lenzing actively collaborates with Canopy to ensure that the wood sourcing is in line with sustainable practices. The plant will be among the highest productive and energy-efficient facilities in the world and will feed the 40 percent excess bioelectricity generated on site as “green energy” into the public grid.*

REFIBRA™ technology: Commercially available since 2017
As a long-standing player in the industry, Lenzing has undertaken extensive research into many different alternative non-wood cellulose sources such as annual plants, like hemp, straw, and bamboo. Until now, textile waste has turned out to be the most promising alternative feedstock for scaled commercial use.
Lenzing’s lyocell fiber produced with the breakthrough REFIBRA™ technology (Eco Cycle technology for nonwoven applications) uses textile waste as part of the feedstock and is an important step towards a circular economy.*

50 percent recycled content by 2024
It is Lenzing’s vision to make textile waste recycling a common standard process like paper recycling and to offer fibers produced with REFIBRA™ technology with up to 50 percent recycled content from post-consumer waste by 2024.

*Please read attached document for more information

Technical textiles fulfil many functions: they hold, they lift, they fixate, they stretch – and they tension. In this function narrow textiles fulfil an important task in product development. And they offer significant advantages over metal or plastic tensioning devices such as springs, clamps or cable ties.

Properties
Textiles are light: a property that plays a central role in modern mobility. Textiles are flexible: from extremely high to extremely low elasticity: the force-elongation behaviour of elasticated narrow textiles can be precisely defined. Depending on the tensioning task to be performed. Textiles tension in tight packaging spaces: elastics can also be used where space is too tight for springs and clasps. Textiles are energy efficient: lightweight, with high tensioning force. Textiles are easy to handle: replace a connector spontaneously and without tools, quickly change the length or roll up and store a supply. And textiles are sustainable: natural fibres and rubber are natural and ecologically degradable raw materials; synthetic fibres can be completely produced from recycled materials.

Applications
Development teams in numerous industries leverage these properties for their products. For example, for flexible machine parts in mechanical engineering, for switch contacts in electrical engineering, for oscillation-capable locking systems in the construction industry, for noise- and vibration-free seating systems in the automotive sector or for grip rings in the toys industry.

Tasks
Particularly en vogue today, when we are spending more time than usual in our own homes: applications for narrow textiles in the furniture industry. They go far beyond the area of legacy home textiles: as tensioning elements in armchairs, sofas and chairs, as hinge solutions in cupboards, as fixation elements in extendable or folding tables. Narrow textiles are used for gripping tasks almost everywhere in the living room.

"JUMBO-Textil specialises in precisely implementing the individual requirements for defined force-elongation values of elasticated narrow textiles: we adapt the technical properties of our products precisely to the specific task and the respective raw materials," explains Werner Thiex, Sales Director Automotive. "Precise technical specification plus sustainable raw materials – this is a crucial combination in the 21st century".

FINEXTM, Sateri’s marquee brand for recycled fibre, is now certified to the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) which provides verification of recycled raw materials through the supply chain.

RCS is intended for use with any product that contains at least 5% recycled material. Sateri has successfully produced FINEXTM viscose fibres with up to 20% recycled content. Under the RCS certification process, each stage of production is required to be certified, beginning at the recycling stage and ending at the last seller in the final business-to-business transaction.

These new developments were announced at the official launch of FINEXTM on September 23, 2020. About 160 guests, mostly senior representatives of major fashion brands and fabric and garment makers, gathered to celebrate the milestones that cement the status of FINEXTM as a game changer for sustainable fashion.

Themed ‘Sustainable Fashion for the Future’, the launch was jointly hosted by Sateri and China International Fashion Fair (CHIC) on the sidelines of the three-day Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, a major industry expo.

In his address, Allen Zhang, President of Sateri, said, “The development of FINEXTM has been an intensive effort for Sateri from initial commercialisation, to partnering brands like Lafuma and Rico Lee, and finally to today’s launch. This is all made possible with collaboration across the value chain – working alongside yarn spinners, garment makers and brand partners – to bring a high quality and more planetfriendly product to consumers. The fashion industry is changing fast and, beyond functionality, circularity is now of the greatest importance in apparel manufacturing.”

In the ‘2020 Sustainable Fashion Report’ released by China’s leading business news publication CBNweekly earlier this week, results of a survey with stakeholders in the fashion value chain reinforced the potential of textile recycling as a solution to the problem of textile waste arising from over-consumption and production. The report identified technology and capital as the biggest barriers to textile recycling and highlighted the critical role brands play in mobilising manufacturers and consumers to advance sustainable fashion.

As part of its efforts to promote textile fibre recycling in China, Sateri is in dialogue with the China Association of Circular Economy (CACE) to undertake a comprehensive study on the industrial-scale textile waste recycling landscape in the country. The study is expected to commence next year.

Following the successful commissioning of two new Monforts Montex wide-width stenter lines and additional environmental management equipment at its plant in Germany, GtA – Society for Textile Equipment GmbH – is aiming to be the first textile finishing company to become entirely CO2-neutral in the manufacture of all of its products by 2025.

GtA is a partner company to Germany’s large-format digital printing fabric leader, Georg and Otto Friedrich GmbH, which has has this year been able to considerably expand its portfolio due to the new Monforts lines.

Headquartered in Gross-Zimmern, close to Frankfurt, Georg and Otto Friedrich GmbH and its partners in Germany have an annual production of 37 million square metres of warp knits for a range of end-use applications, including garments, automotive interiors and technical textiles, but increasingly with a concentration on digital printing substrates.

Fault-free textiles

A new standard in pure white, 100% clean and fault-free textile substrates has been demanded by this market in recent years due to the rapid growth in digitally-printed banners and billboards – often referred to as ‘soft signage’.

The substrates of choice for digital printing are 100% polyester warp knits which are resilient and allow excellent take-up of inks, and vibrant colours and clear and precise images to be achieved with digital printing techniques. The knitted construction also has the advantage of elasticity, which is a plus in terms of flexibility for installers.

Critically, the warp knitted fabrics have extremely smooth surfaces which is becoming increasingly important due to the general move away from PVC coatings which were the standard in the past.

It was to finish these fabrics for Georg and Otto Friedrich GmbH as well as providing such services for many other customers, that the GtA plant in Neresheim, Baden-Württemberg, was established in 2015.

The purpose-built plant on a greenfield site was initially equipped with a fully-automated, 72 metre long Monforts installation comprising a washing machine integrated with a 3.6 metre wide, seven-chamber Montex stenter. The line quickly went from single to double shift production and then to 24/7 operation  to meet demand.

Expanded widths

Building on the success of this installation, GtA has now installed two more Montex stenter lines – both in expanded working widths of 5.6 metres and purpose-built at Montex GmbH in Austria.

A six-chamber Montex unit is combined with a washing machine to guarantee the purity of the substrates, while a five-chamber line is integrated with a wide-width coating machine. This new coating capability at GtA has led to a number of new additions to the Georg and Otto Friedrich DecoTex range for digital printing, including wide width fabrics with flame retardant, antimicrobial and non-slip finishes.

The new Montex stenter lines benefit from all of the latest innovations from Monforts, including the Smart Sensor system for the optimised maintenance planning of key mechanical wear components on the stenters. A comprehensive overview of the condition of all parts at any time is now available for operators within the highly intuitive Qualitex visualization software.

With Qualitex, all article-specific settings can be stored and the formulations for thousands of treatment processes called up again at any time. Individual operators can also personalise their dashboards with the most important machine functions and process parameters.

Environmental commitment

GtA is run by a seasoned team of textile professionals led by Managing Director Andreas Niess.

“We have received excellent service from Monforts from the outset and we were happy to place the order for these two new lines as part of our ongoing cooperation,” he says. “With all of the latest Monforts advances in technology we are fully in control of all production and quality parameters with these lines, as part of our significant commitment to innovative environmental technology.”

The GtA plant, which operates in near-cleanroom conditions, has also been equipped with proprietary technology to fully exploit the Monforts air-to-air heat recovery systems that are now standard with Montex stenters.

“Around 30 per cent of our investment volume at the site goes to energy-saving measures and we are sure that this commitment is worthwhile,” Mr Niess says. “As an example, our integrated heat recovery system fully exploits the waste heat from the process exhaust air and the burner exhaust gases of the Monforts stenters, allowing us to achieve an exhaust air temperature of  between 30 to 34°C, compared to what would conventionally be between 140 to 160°C. Another focus has been on exhaust air purification technology and here too, the latest technology has been installed with integrated heat recovery elements.”

This, he adds, saves 52% of the energy that would normally be used – equating to 5,800,000 KwH per year. The necessary audits for energy-efficient companies are also carried out annually.

In addition, GtA has purpose-designed the automatic chemical mixing and dosing systems that feed the padders for the key treatments that are carried out on the fabrics through the stenters.

The company is going further, however, in its pursuit of clean production and raw materials.

"We want to be an asset and not a burden on our immediate environment and therefore do not use any additives containing solvents," Mr Niess says. “We were the first to use fully halogen-free flame retardant chemistry, and we use bio-based, finely ground alumina products for the washing process instead of surfactants. PES polyester yarns made from recycled material are also increasingly used and the latest additions to our raw materials portfolio, the RC-Ocean products, are made from recycled sea plastic.

“We are now planning a combined heat and power plant for the production of electrical energy and heat and we will also build a photovoltaic system that converts solar radiation into electrical energy. GtA wants to be the first textile finishing company to be CO2-neutral in the manufacture of all of its products by 2025. The complete heat supply and heating for the 13,000 square metre production hall, as well as the office building and the hot water supply for the domestic water, is already energy-neutral. We are convinced that this commitment will pay off in the long term and our positive business development proves that sustainability and business profitability are perfectly compatible.”

In addition to the products for Georg and Otto Friedrich GmbH, GtA  offers its manufacturing capacities for other customers as a contract service.

All products are manufactured in accordance with Öko-Tex Standard 100, product class 1 and the company is also involved in the research and development of new sustainable manufacturing processes, in cooperation with many regional universities and funding project partners.

• Esprit selects EarthColors® by Archroma for its newest ‘I AM SUSTAINABLE’ capsule collection

Archroma, a global leader in color and specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, today announced a new collaboration with Esprit, the global fashion clothing brand, who selected the EarthColors® range for its ‘I AM SUSTAINABLE’ capsule collection.

Esprit creates laid-back, high-quality essentials that reflect its core values of sustainability, equality and freedom of choice. The brand developed its first eco-conscious collection made of 100% organic cotton, back in the early 90’s.

Archroma’s EarthColors® range came to public attention for being the Gold Winner of the OutDoor Industry Award 2017, Sustainable Innovations category.

The range is regularly featured by brands such as Kathmandu, G-Star and Ternua, who are willing to explore truly innovative and authentic color options for more eco-conscious casual wear collections.
Archroma’s EarthColors® is a line of patented plant-based dyes, sourced from up to 100 percent renewable resources.

Archroma developed EarthColors® using non-edible waste products, from agriculture and herbal industries, to replace petroleum derived raw materials; which are the conventional raw materials used to synthesize dyes currently. This gives brands an alternative when looking for more natural ways of dyeing garments.
The collection is available online: www.esprit.eu/earthcolors.