Textile Leadership

• Lab-grown Pigments and Food By-Products

As the environmental impact of the fashion and textile industries becomes clearer, the demand and need for sustainable alternatives is growing. One international research group aims to replace toxic synthetic dyes with natural alternatives, ranging from plants to microbes to food waste.
 
Walk into any clothing store and you'll find a rainbow of fluorescent shirts, pastel sweaters and blue jeans that rotate in and out of style each season. The colours of each garment are pristine, eye-catching and identical, but there are consequences hidden in those racks of colourful clothes.

Our planet and the factory workers producing our clothes are paying a steep price: toxic chemicals used in the synthetic dyeing process pollute waterways and soil.
Introduced in the 1860s, synthetic dyes and pigments have become commonplace in the textile industry. These dyes are part of the reason why clothes of every colour imaginable are so readily available: they offer quick and easy alternatives to the natural sources of colour that used to be the only option.

While this synthetic process has become normalised, using natural pigments to dye textiles has been part of human history for thousands of years.
BioColour suggests it's time to revisit and reimagine this long history.

Associate Professor in Design at Aalto University and member of the BioColour research group Kirsi Niinimäki explains, ‘We’re looking back in history to see how we can bring the information we had before synthetic chemicals existed to the current day, but also how we can apply it in a more modern way by working with the [textile] industry.’

BioColour is an international research consortium of designers, material scientists, biologists, mathematicians and engineers. These researchers from Finnish, American and Brazilian universities and research institutes work together to find non-toxic and biodegradable natural alternatives to synthetic dyes and pigments.
 
Natural dyes at an industrial scale
BioColour’s research isn't just about identifying and testing natural colour sources, it's also about working with the textile industry and consumers to bring widespread change to the new normal of synthetic colours.

One such example comes from Finnish design house Marimekko. Using dyer’s woad, a plant native to Finland, the project tested this alternative to synthetic indigo, a dye that's created using toxic chemicals like formaldehyde.

This collaboration revealed an additional perk of natural dyes: as a Finnish design house, by using a plant cultivated in Finland, Marimekko could tell a local story with dyer’s woad that wasn’t possible with synthetic indigo.

Such collaborations are an opportunity to challenge and learn from each other, says Niinimäki. While BioColour challenges industry partners to work with different methods and recipes that draw on historical practices, industry partners put dye recipes to the test outside of precise laboratory conditions.

‘In a laboratory, it’s possible [adjust] processes, but when we go to the industry, it’s not possible to precisely modify the recipes,’ says Niinimäki, ‘we have to accept the industrial processes and what comes out of them.’

The textile industry isn't the only source of collaboration: Food and agricultural industries create massive amounts of biowaste that spell untapped potential of natural dyes. By-products such as onion skins and willow bark from these industries can be used to dye clothing, creating new side streams and reducing waste.

Though the details are still secret, Niinimäki also described an ongoing collaboration with a food company that aims to investigate how much pigment can be extracted from food waste material. They will also test the durability of said colours.

Changing attitudes towards colour
Ensuring consumers are willing to purchase naturally dyed textiles is vital in the quest to replace synthetic dyes. Yet, consumers still find this concept to be a strange one, according to Niinimäki.

Synthetic dyes are appealing because they provide long-lasting and identical colours between each garment. As Niinimäki points out, however, that ‘sameness’ is one of fast fashion’s problems.

‘Blue is a trendy colour, but why does everything have to be the same blue? Even in mass production, why can’t we accept that there might be different kinds of blue? Why does everything have to be the same?’

Natural dyes, which are not as stable, may look different from garment to garment and even fade over time.
These fading colours don't need to be seen as a negative, however.

Niinimäki believes fading colours open the door to an attractive new type of design: garments could be designed to reveal new patterns as certain colours fade over time.

While BioColour’s consumer studies aim to identify and change current attitudes to colours and textiles, other researchers in the group are investigating the durability and longevity of natural dyes. Fading colours may offer interesting design potential, but they aren't the only option.

Drawing on history to invent the future
Natural sources of colour aren't limited to plants and mushrooms—the world of microbes offers huge potential for the future of dyes and pigments.

Bacteria can be a source of non-toxic biodegradable pigment and a method of helping dyes to stick to textile fibres. Using bacteria in the natural dyeing process harkens back to the slower pace of fashion, as it can take weeks of growing and feeding the bacteria.

This use of bacteria in the dyeing process has inspired BioColour collaborators from the VTT Technical Research Centre to investigate lab-grown colourants. Their research explores how the DNA of microbes can be modified to produce a variety of different pigments that could be scaled to wider textile production.
 
Lab-grown colourants are a particularly promising future because, as Niinimäki explains, there is limited land to cultivate plants for dyes. Climate change is and will continue to change our environment and cause food and water insecurity. This means resources will need to be diverted to food cultivation.

These pigment-producing microbes expand the possibilities of non-toxic, biodegradable dyes while saving land and resources in the process.
While it may be drawn from history, the research behind natural dyes is anything but old news.

After a long pandemic-related dry spell, the Techtextil and Texprocess trade fairs, which are expected to attract more than 1,300 exhibitors from 51 countries in June 2022, are returning to Frankfurt with forward-looking formats.

Textination spoke to companies about their expectations of the fair, the product portfolio and innovations they will be presenting in Frankfurt in a few days' time.

Dr Marina Crnoja-Cosic kicks off the series. The chemist with a doctorate and many years of experience in fibre and application development has headed the New Business Development department of viscose speciality fibre manufacturer Kelheim Fibres since July 2020, at the same time strengthening its management team.

Dr Marina Crnoja-Cosic, what makes your company special and different - compared to competitors?
Kelheim Fibres is the longest producing viscose fibre manufacturer in the world. The fact that we, as a medium-sized company, are able to compete successfully with much larger companies is due to our strong focus on specialisation. We do not rely on the production of large quantities of standard fibres but use our 85 years of experience and our technological expertise to create special fibres that have very specific functionalities - many of which are tailor-made to customer requirements. This makes us the technology leader in some areas, such as short cut, or the market leader in others, such as tampon fibres.
 
To be successful with special fibres and to remain so in the future, innovation is a central topic for us. We follow the Open Innovation approach and seek close exchange with all partners along the value chain, but also with scientific institutes. This - and also our own compact but effective organisation - ensures efficiency, speed and agility. New ideas are commercialised faster and through the cooperation of all partners we get results that work not only in our heads but in reality, at all stages of processing and with the end customer.

And finally, we produce exclusively in Germany. This means that our fibres are subject to strict German environmental legislation and at the same time contribute to a stable European supply chain.

How do you define Textile Leadership for your company?
For me, leadership is about leading the way, breaking new ground, inspiring others and 'taking them with us'.
Our guiding principle is to be the driving force behind the best individual solutions for a healthy lifestyle while protecting the environment for future generations.
          
This is exactly what we do with our Open Innovation concept: together with our partners, with customers and in networks, we actively search for "unmet needs", unfulfilled consumer needs, and create innovative products that meet these needs. Sustainability is a key focus in this process. Our fibres are made from renewable raw materials and are biodegradable, which puts them right on the pulse of the times. In contrast to purely natural fibres, however, we can specifically functionalise them during the production process. In this way, the consumer receives an environmentally friendly product, but does not have to make any compromises in terms of performance. We already offer a real alternative to petroleum-based products in a variety of different applications - and we are driven to develop further applications in which our fibres can contribute to the benefit of customers and the environment.

Which products/product innovations will you present at the fair?
We have a variety of themes in store: one focus is on wellbeing, a trend that has been gaining more and more fans, and not just since Corona. Textiles should not only protect us from the cold and prying eyes, they should actively increase our well-being. This is what our CELLIANT® Viscose does, for example, the first viscose fibre with an infrared effect sustainably integrated into the fibre. Textiles with CELLIANT® Viscose promote better blood circulation and a better oxygen supply to the cells. This leads to higher performance, faster recovery and better sleep.

The new Zzzleepwear collection from the renowned underwear manufacturer mey makes use of the properties of CELLIANT® Viscose. Incidentally, it is also an example of how the close cooperation of all partners involved accelerates the path from fibre development to the finished end product: There were only a few months between the presentation of the new fibre and the launch of the Zzzleepwear collection.

In addition, we present short-cut fibres that can give papers or wipes the desired properties in a very targeted way. With our short-cut technology we can, for example, produce fibres that provide the necessary strength in tea bags or fibres for flushable wipes, i.e., wipes that can be conveniently disposed of via the toilet without the risk of clogging. In both of these examples, biodegradability is again a key aspect - who wants to drink microplastics in their tea?

Another focus is on hygiene products, and here especially on feminine hygiene. We want to accompany women and respond to their individually different and changing needs. We have been the market leader in the tampon sector for decades. We use the resulting know-how for a whole range of other AHP, i.e., applications that require increased absorbency. Our fibres provide the basis for comfortable and at the same time biodegradable disposable articles. In addition, and in response to the needs of environmentally conscious consumers, we have now developed fibres for reusable hygiene products.

One example of this is our fibres for fully bio-based menstrual underwear. Here we have perfectly matched various speciality fibres to the different layers of period underwear: Fibres that quickly absorb fluid and wick it away from the body are used as well as fibres that absorb large amounts of fluid and do not release it again even under pressure.
 
Another new development follows the same principle, namely the absorbent pad of the reusable Sumo nappy. Like the nappy itself, this insert consists entirely of bio-based materials and is washable.
In addition to putting together the ideal combination of fibres, we have also developed a new nonwoven construction together with the Berlin-based start-up Sumo and the Saxon Textile Research Institute STFI. With its open structure, it gives our speciality fibres enough space to absorb a lot of liquid, but at the same time it provides the necessary stability to survive many washing cycles undamaged. We have, so to speak, transferred nonwovens from the world of single use to the world of reusables, thus opening up new perspectives. In tests, the performance of this absorbent pad surpasses the alternatives - bio-based and synthetic - available on the market.

From Reusable, the logical path leads on to Recycling. We would also like to promote our cooperation with the Swedish textile recycling company Renewcell at Techtextil. We are working together on the large-scale production of high-quality viscose fibres from Renewcell's 100% textile recyclate Circulose®. This makes us a pioneer on the way to a completely closed European loop in which textile waste is turned into new Circulose® fibres.

What goals do you want to achieve with the trade fair presentation?
We want to see how the industry has evolved, what the current and future trends are and how the technical textile sector can respond to the issues of sustainability, circularity and the EU textile strategy - and what contribution our fibres can make to all these issues.

Techtextil is where the entire industry comes together, right across the supply chain. We meet our partners here from both the textile and nonwovens sectors. The scientific landscape is also very well represented. This makes Techtextil an event with a very high level of innovation.

We are specifically looking for partners here who want to follow our path of innovation and commercialisation together with us. And last but not least, we are very much looking forward to meeting our customers, partners, colleagues as well as representatives of science and the press once again in person.