From the Sector

• Demo plant sorts post-consumer plastic waste and will produce ready-for-market fully formulated polymer pellets
• Brand owners and converters will be able to access material for qualification and market validation in early 2021
• EverMinds™ in action: Pioneering collaboration brings together expertise vital to advancing the circular economy

Borealis and TOMRA have today announced the operational start of their advanced mechanical recycling demo plant in Lahnstein, Germany, the result of a partnership that marries chemistry with technology for unsurpassed results.

The state-of-the-art plant processes both rigid and flexible plastic waste from households. And unlike many current recycling plants, it will produce the advanced solutions necessary for use in high-demanding plastic applications in various industries, including automotive and consumer products. With high purity, low odour, high product consistency and light colour fractions, these Borcycle™ M grade recycled polymers will meet customer quality requirements across the value chain.

The purpose of this demo plant is to generate material for brand owners and converters to qualify, validate and prove fit for use in their highly demanding applications. Technical success will set the groundwork for a commercial-scale advanced recycling plant.

“This plant is just the beginning of what’s possible when key players in the value chain come together to make a truly significant impact in the market,” says Volker Rehrmann, Executive Vice President and Head of Circular Economy at TOMRA. “Having just launched the new Circular Economy Division, it is clear what a large role waste management and pivotal projects like this have on moving towards a sustainable future. We are proud to have initiated one of the most advanced mechanical recycling plants when it comes to post-consumer polymer waste. This will become an important enabler as we accelerate the transformation to a circular economy in the years to come, and we are excited to be a part of this pioneering project.”

Operation of the plant is a joint enterprise between Borealis, TOMRA and Zimmerman. Borealis is responsible for the plant’s commercial success and contributes its expertise and knowledge in innovation, recycling and compounding. Likewise, TOMRA contributes as a provider of technology-led solutions and brings its proven expertise, established process and market knowledge, which, in turn, enable the circular economy through advanced collection and sorting systems. Zimmerman is a waste management company with experience in sorting multiple types of waste, including plastics, and is responsible for successful plant operations and product quality.

“At P&G we are making packaging with the ‘next life’ in mind to help drive a more robust circular economy.  We must increase the supply of high quality recycled plastic to enable the industry to deliver on this vision,” says Gian De Belder, Procter & Gamble (P&G) Technical Director, R&D Packaging Sustainability. “The innovative new approach that Borealis is taking shows potential to step-change both the quantity and quality of PCR available for our brands, and help us to achieve our 2030 goal to reduce our use of virgin plastic in packaging by 50%, or 300 kilotonnes annually. Early tests of the material looks very promising!”

• "Dibella up" records its first big success

Aalten, "Dibella up" is bearing its first fruits. Since the launch of the recycling concept initiated in August 2020, six tons of sorted laundry items have already been returned to Dibella and converted into new ones by the company in farsighted reuse projects. The customer who has been involved in the project from the very beginning is Lamme Textielbeheer from Nederhorst den Berg. The Dutch textile service provider sees the initiative as an important measure for more appreciation of resources.

Dibella has taken the closed-loop approach of the textile service as a model and has taken a step towards a completely closed cycle with the "Dibella up" project. The system includes unlimited reuse and recycling of the fibre raw materials bound in the textiles. To this end, the company's own textile qualities, which are selected from laundries, are taken back and passed on to selected upcycling projects. Polyester-cotton blended fabrics are processed there into high-quality bags. Pure natural fibre textiles as well as blended fabrics with at least 50 percent cotton are chemically converted into an important raw material for cellulose fibre production, while the remaining polyester is still being thermally recycled for technical reasons.

Six tons of laundry from the Netherlands

Lamme Textielbeheer was immediately enthusiastic about the "Dibella up" initiative. The committed company has been involved in various Dibella sustainability projects for many years and recognises the future-oriented character of the new project. "Our will to cooperate was immediately clear after Dibella's managing director Ralf Hellmann presented the upcycling project, because we see it as an important measure for the prudent use of resources," reports Jan Lamme, managing director of the company of the same name. "Within a very short period of time, we therefore jointly started to take back our discarded, no longer usable old textiles. In this way, we have already been able to return six tonnes of laundry for a new product cycle. This corresponds exactly to our idea of upcycling!". "Dibella provides stable, reusable cartons for shipping," says a delighted Frank David, Lamme's Assistant Operations Manager. "This makes collection much easier for us and we don't have to take any means of transport out of our laundry".

Prepared for the mega-trend of recycling management

Dibella would like to build on the initial joint success and further expand the initiative for a closed textile cycle in the industry. "The awareness of sustainability is high in the textile rental service. But the next mega-trend is already emerging. The future lies in closed-loop recycling. With "Dibella up", we are offering our customers the opportunity to get involved now and make resources usable in the long term. We are happy about every new cooperation partner who appreciates the value of textiles as much as we do".

Archroma, a global leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, has been recently ranked number 1 in the “industrial chemicals” list published by the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE) for driving transparency in their supply chain.

Archroma also entered the Top 50 of companies in IPE’s Green Supply Chain CITI Evaluation, at the 47th position. The evaluation dynamically assesses brands on the environmental management of their supply chains in China.

With a wide array of products used every day, everywhere, the company is committed to operate along the principles of “The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, efficient, enhanced, it’s our nature”. The Archroma team is therefore committed to sourcing safe and sustainable raw materials and intermediates from like-minded partners.

Heike van de Kerkhof, CEO of Archroma, recently delivered a message at the IPE 2020 Green Supply Chain Forum online, and commented: “As industry leader, we have the responsibility to keep on addressing the climate challenge, and to do everything we can together to reduce our impact on the environment. This is where the approach of the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs supports us. They encourage us to challenge our suppliers in terms of safety, health and environment, and to go even beyond our own strict policies and processes.”

A typical manmade fiber system produces well over 600 tons of yarn a day. This equals in around 700 winders in filament yarn production or 3 systems in staple fiber production. These figures show just how important smooth production processes are.

If an error creeps into the process at any point, the daily waste increases dramatically. It is obvious that all yarn manufacturers want to prevent this happening to ensure their production facilities operate efficiently. Here, digitalization provides invaluable support. A Smart Factory that networks all steps within the production chain – including all auxiliary processes – identifies and reports quality deviations at an early stage. Yarn manufacturers can quickly intervene in the production process and hence avoid generating waste.

Digital solutions ensures process reliability
And the Smart Factory is also the focus of Oerlikon Manmade Fibers. Here, it comprises considerably more than the Plant Operation Center, a system that has been well-established within the market for many years now. “This is about absolute transparency and traceability. At the end of the process, yarn manufacturers are able to track at which position its finished textured yarn packages were spun and even have information on the processed granulate and the specific production conditions”, comments Ivan Gallo, responsible for digital products at Oerlikon Manmade Fiber. In this way, the Smart Factory ensures process reliability, above all. The data are automatically entered into the system and the product assessed at each stage of yarn production at which values and data are recorded – such as during visual inspection and when weighing. In the event of anomalies in the intermediate laboratory and quality checks, this allows yarn producers to intervene in the production process and correct these anomalies.

Information on the chip feeding, on the drying and on the masterbatch are available, as are data on the climate control, on the compressed air supply and on further auxiliary systems. With this, yarn manufacturers have at all times a complete overview of the ongoing production process, including comprehensive information on quality and production costs.

• The stunning niLuu collection by former professional volleyball player Nilufer Bracco features smart Bemberg™ fabrics by Ipeker
• Wonderful kimonos for women and men, sleep and face masks are the key pieces of the PETA certified and cruelty-free collection, 100% Bemberg™ and vegan

Former professional volleyball player Nilufer Bracco recently launched niLuu, a PETA approved cruelty-free loungewear brand using 100% Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei that combines the iconic elegance of traditional silk with a socially and environmentally ethical production process.

Bemberg™ is a fiber made from the smart-tech transformation of cotton linters bio-utility materials that are converted through a traceable and transparent closed loop process; the Bemberg™ Ipeker Textile  fabric’s uniqueness comes from the exceptional quality characteristics achieved in design. The end result is a luxurious fabric so soft and smooth that it is almost like a second skin, breathes like cotton, drapes beautifully like silk, and reflects the cultural tradition of luxury textiles from founder Nilufer Bracco’s native country, Turkey. The first collection released by Miami based niLuu features premium quality kimono robes, sleep masks, face masks, and pillowcases that are available in a variety of deep and vibrant colors, and with a soft-brushed finish typical of premium sand-washed silk.

Designed to not only feel and look amazing but the entire niLuu collection is sustainable, biodegradable and 100% vegan.  Ipeker Textile, one of the major Bemberg™ fabric producers in Europe, proudly holds the title as the first vegan fabric producer in the world, receiving Vegan V-Label certificate on around 150 different products that adhere to the guidelines of the European Vegetarian Label, most of them developed with Bemberg™ yarn.

niLuu’s innovative Bemberg™ collection is hypoallergenic, antistatic, easy to care for, and it is also known to have several benefits for the skin. The breathability of the fabric helps to maintain body temperature; excellent moisture control means the fabric doesn’t dry out the skin or hair in the ways that cotton would and minimal friction against the skin means it is also known to have anti-aging benefits.  Speaking of niLuu’s high-quality Bemberg™ fabric, Founder, Nilufer Bracco adds, “Our innovative Bemberg™ vegan silk delivers the best of both worlds. Not only does our luxury fabric feel amazing when you use it, but you can also feel good knowing that it caused minimum harm to the planet when it was produced and that it will leave only the slightest trace when it reaches the end of its lifecycle.”

The luxury textiles brand has also shown its commitment to responsible practices, by partnering with 1% for the Planet pledging to donate 1% of their annual revenue to environmental organizations that work hard to protect our planet.

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.

Rester Oy, which is developing the plant in Paimio, recycles companies' end-of-life textiles, and Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto Oy (LSJH), which will hire a production area at the same facility, processes households' end-of-life textiles. The plant will process 12,000 tonnes of end-of-life textiles every year, which represents about 10% of Finland’s textile waste.

The textile industry’s end-of-life textile problem is intolerable. Natural resources are increasingly used to manufacture products, but these materials are lost at the end of their life cycle. About 100 million kilograms of textile waste are generated annually in Finland alone. Reusing this material could reduce the textile industry’s carbon footprint and significantly reduce the use of natural resources.

Rester Oy and LSJH will drive the textile sector towards a circular economy and begin processing textile waste as an industrial raw material. The Nordic countries’ first industrial end-of-textile refinement plant will open in Paimio in 2021. The 3,000-square-metre plant is being developed by Rester Oy, which recycles companies' end-of-life textiles and industrial waste materials. LSJH, which processes households’ end-of-life textiles on its production line, will hire part of the plant.

Outi Luukko, Rester Oy’s board chair, says, “The processing plant will begin a new era of textile circular economy in Finland. As industry pioneers, we are launching a system change in Scandinavia. The transition of the textile industry from a linear model to a circular economy is essential, as virgin materials cannot sustain the current structure of the textile industry. And why should it, when there is so much recyclable material available?”

From the perspective of Rester Oy’s main owner, work clothing supplier Touchpoint, the circular economy plant not only represents resource efficiency, but is also necessary from the perspective of the entire life cycle of a responsible work clothing collection.

Luukko adds, “Finding a local solution to a global problem is a huge leap in the right direction and raises Finland's profile as a pioneer of circular economy."

The future plant will be able to process 12,000 tonnes of end-of-life textiles annually, which represents about 10% of Finland’s textile waste. Both production lines produce recycled fibre, which can be used for various industrial applications, including yarn and fabric, insulating materials for construction and shipping industries, acoustic panels, composites, non-woven and filter materials, and other technical textiles, such as geo-textiles.

LSJH is piloting a full-scale refinement plant

LSJH has launched a pilot production line for processing households' end-of-life textiles. Unfortunately, consumers' end-of-life textiles are heterogeneous, making them a challenging raw material for further processing. Before processing, the textiles are sorted by material into various fibre classes using optical identification technology developed by LSJH and its partners. This ensures the quality of the raw material and the resulting fibre products.

Jukka Heikkilä, managing director for Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto, explains: “On the basis of the experiences gathered from the pilot project, Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto is preparing a full-scale refinement plant in the Turku region. As soon as 2023, the plant will process Finnish households' end-of-life textiles. The project involves all waste treatment plants owned by Finnish municipalities.”

Paimio has ambitious goals for circular economy companies

Rester’s initiative aims to create a circular economy cluster in Paimio that combines the processing and reuse of end-of-life textile fibres. Paimion Kehitys Oy, which is owned by the City of Paimio and the local association of enterprises, supports the development of circular economy companies in Paimio.

Mika Ingi, managing director for Paimion Kehitys Oy, says, “We want to step out of our traditional municipal role and create significant added value for everyone taking part. That is why we are involved in the development of a new modern service model based on ecosystem thinking. We are piloting the textile cluster, followed in the coming years by clusters focusing on plastic, construction, and energy. The aim of our service is to support and help develop new profitable business by bringing circular economy companies and their potential customers to innovate together."

The foundation stone of the processing plant was laid today (18 August 2020). The processing plant will begin operations in February 2021.

Shanghai - Sateri has signed the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, becoming the first viscose producer in China to support this global fashion agenda. An initiative convened by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), this charter calls on the fashion industry to support the goals of the Paris Agreement in limiting global temperature rise to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, by achieving 30 per cent aggregate reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, including the supply chain.

Niclas Svenningsen, Manager of Global Climate Action, UNFCCC, said, “UNFCCC is excited to have Sateri joining the Fashion Industry Charter on Climate Action and committing towards global climate action as the first Chinese viscose producer to do so. We hope that it will inspire more textile companies from China to join and take action.”

As a signatory of the Charter, Sateri looks forward to participating in relevant Working Groups which bring together stakeholders and experts in the fashion and textile sectors. In recent months, Sateri has joined several other leading industry multi-stakeholder associations. These include the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), China Association of Circular Economy (CACE), and the European Disposables and Nonwovens Association (EDANA).

Allen Zhang, President of Sateri, said, “Sateri is committed to growing our business as sustainably as we can. Our adoption of the Fashion Charter goals is a bold leap but we believe that pushing the boundaries is necessary. We are also stepping up on our engagement with industry partners to be part of the collective action to accelerate efforts against climate change.  As we formulate Sateri Vision 2030 for a sustainable business, carbon reduction will be one of our key focus areas”.

In addition to stepping up greenhouse gas emission reductions in its own operations, the company will continue to support decarbonisation efforts of the downstream textile value chain. Late last year, in collaboration with the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), a Climate Leadership Whitepaper was published. The paper analysed how innovation in Sateri’s EcoCosy® fibre products help reduce carbon emission during yarn and fabric manufacturing stages, and also proposed next steps in achieving industry-wide emission reduction goals.   

Sateri attained an ‘A-‘ score in CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) for Climate Change in 2019;  a score which is higher than the ‘C’ average globally, in Asia, as well as in the Textiles and Fabric Goods sector. 

Technologies with an excellent environmental performance throughout the entire product life cycle – that is what “Autoneum Pure.” stands for. In future, components that meet the highest standards in terms of sustainability and eco-friendliness can be identified at a glance under this label. This also includes the innovation “Mono-Liner” for wheelhouse outer liners.

As innovation leader in acoustic and thermal management, Autoneum continuously invests in the development and production of resource-saving components that make cars lighter and thus more climate-friendly. In view of an increasing sustainability awareness and the correspondingly greater information needs on environmentally-friendly vehicle components, the Company has now launched Autoneum Pure. The label determines particularly sustainable technologies, thereby guiding car manufacturers in product selection for future models.

Autoneum Pure is based on a comprehensive set of criteria assessing the sustainability performance of a product in all four phases of its life cycle: material procurement, production, use and end of life. For example, components with a high content of recyclable materials or those that achieve significant weight savings compared to comparable standard components qualify for the “Autoneum Pure.” label. Autoneum already offers various multifunctional technologies that meet the high standards for Autoneum Pure products: Ultra-Silent for underbody systems or battery undercovers, Di-Light for carpet systems, Prime-Light and IFP-R2 for inner dashes and floor insulators as well as Hybrid-Acoustics PET for e-motor encapsulations and engine-mounted parts, which was launched in fall 2019.

With Mono-Liner, the latest innovation for wheelhouse outer liners is also included in the Autoneum Pure portfolio. Among other things, the Mono-Liner-based components convince thanks to their lightweight construction, thereby contributing to lower vehicle weight with correspondingly less fuel consumption and emissions. The excellent life cycle assessment is also based on their particularly resource-saving manufacturing: Production cut offs of the components, which consist to a large extent of recycled PET fibers, can be processed into pellets and completely returned to the manufacturing process as fibers. An SUV and a crossover model from a US vehicle manufacturer already benefit from Mono-Liner wheelhouse outer liners.

Anahid Rickmann, Head of Corporate Communications & Responsibility, explains: “With Autoneum Pure we are the first automotive supplier to establish a sustainability label in the field of acoustic and thermal management. Autoneum Pure is part of the Company's Advance Sustainability  Strategy 2025 and sets industry standards in product communication.”

• Bemberg™ presents a great deal of novelties with a true key-statement for sustainability: Let’s Make it Circular!
• The lifespan of Bemberg™’s regenerated cellulose fiber Cupro derived from cotton is fully circular: from the source to manufacturing.

“Sustainability is the founding pillar of our company,” says SHUNSUKE SATO, sales manager of Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei. “Indeed, the smart fiber is made from a cotton linter which is pre-consumer material, a natural derived source, that doesn’t deplete forestry resources”.

In Bemberg™’s production the whole sustainable closed-loop process is supported by the LCA study, signed by ICEA (Istituto per la Certificazione Etica e Ambientale) and validated by President of Ecoinnovazione Paolo Masoni ex Research Director of ENEA (Ente per le Nuove tecnologie, l’Energia e l’Ambiente).

While recyclability is granted by the Global Recycle Standard - GRS certification by the renown Textile Exchange (an influential guarantee that involves the whole production process and supply chain behind the company’s smart yarns), Bemberg™ yarns are also entirely biodegradable and ecotoxicity-free - meaning that at the end of their life circle they break down into the environment leaving no trace in terms of toxic substances as attested by the Innovhub-SSI report.

A special focus deserves Velutine™ Evo, the new fibrillation finishing technology for Bemberg™ fabrics only that guarantees another level of sustainable benefits without sacrificing the Bemberg™ amazing and unique touch. As part of the company’s continuous innovation, Velutine™ Evo brings better environmental, energy and water profiles for the benefit of Bemberg™ partners in the manufacture of their ranges.
The sustainable achievements of the new finishing technology have been measured by LCA - Life Cycle Assessment study by ICEA and proved to guarantee environmental benefits such as -16.5% of greenhouses gas emissions and -21% of overall consumption of energy resources. On top of that Velutine™ Evo means also -20.5% of electricity savings, -15.9% of steam production and -19.5% of water consumption.

The first Bemberg™ partner to present a commercial collection enriched by Velutine™ Evo is the Portuguese Matias & Araújo. With an innovative spirit, dynamism and a determined entrepreneurial spirit, the company is a leading knitwear producer for the textile industry.

Bemberg™ collaborated also with the premium brand CAALO that is making its mark in the outerwear market with its Sustainably produced Functional-Luxury proposal. For SS20, CAALO uses Bemberg™ lining because of the sustainability properties and it’s unique colour.

CAALO uses as much eco-friendly and sustainable materials as possible without compromising on design or quality. This Bemberg™ lining was a perfect fit. This versatile blazer features a removable hood, hidden welt pockets, button closure, and removable cargo pockets.