From the Sector

• EFI Reggiani TERRA Silver Makes Debut at Fespa Global Print Expo 2021 for a Short, Smart and Green Process
• The new, industrial, entry-level EFI™ Reggiani TERRA Silver textile printer from Electronics For Imaging, Inc. is making its debut at the Fespa Global Print Expo 2021 tradeshow, 12-15 October at RAI Amsterdam.
• The EFI Reggiani TERRA Silver uses unique TERRA pigment ink for high-quality, highly sustainable direct-to-textile printing without steaming or washing.       

“This is one of the first trade shows to return after the pandemic, and we are very excited to again meet customers in person and showcase an innovative offering that delivers superior printing results while using less time, water and energy,” said EFI Reggiani Vice President and General Manager Adele Genoni. “We are introducing this advanced EFI Reggiani TERRA Silver solution to the many print service providers at Fespa, presenting them with an ideal path to enter the industrial textile segment with a short, smart and green production process.”

The new-version TERRA Silver printer is part of EFI’s complete TERRA line-up of pigment ink printer solutions. It is a 180-cm wide printer that can print up to 190 sqm per hour with eight dual-channel printheads. The printer also features:

•    A new recirculating ink system for superior reliability and minimum maintenance
•    Several printing modes to ensure maximum flexibility in terms of design capability
•    New, real-time image processing that eliminates time spent in image pre-calculations
•    A user friendly, intuitive interface
•    A more-efficient polymerisation process that takes place as printed textile goes through the printer’s on-board dryer.

In Fespa stand 1-G71, attendees can see the EFI Reggiani TERRA Silver print smoothly and precisely on knitted and woven fabrics. The printer’s quality is evident in its high-uniformity printing modes, and it delivers numerous features that enhance the production process, including an accurate WYSIWYG interface and flexible queue management.
 
EFI Reggiani is also a leading developer of textile inks. The EFI Reggiani TERRA pigment inks used on the Silver model deliver excellent wet and dry fastness properties and remarkable sharpness in detail. Designed to leverage EFI Reggiani digital printers’ market-proven industrial performance capabilities, these eco-friendly, water-based inks provide an extraordinary level of print durability and yield longer print head life with reduced maintenance costs. The high-performance digital pigment inks also use an innovative binder technology for fast, sustainable, and cost-competitive industrial textile printing on the widest range of fabrics. Users also gain superior print definition and colour intensity.
 
This year, EFI Reggiani celebrates 75 years of heritage and innovation in the textile world. Always committed to deliver to the market new cutting-edge technologies, EFI Reggiani has world-class products offering boosted uptime and reliability, high performance throughput, and remarkable printing uniformity and accuracy – all while helping customers increase the sustainability of their textile manufacturing activities. Green EFI Reggiani processes give users fast, complete and sustainable solutions across a broad range of textile applications.
 
In this 75th anniversary year, EFI Reggiani has also launched several other ground-breaking solutions, such as EFI Reggiani HYPER, the fastest scanning digital printer on the market, and the EFI Reggiani BLAZE, an industrial entry-level, easy-to-use printer designed to give new textile companies the opportunity to adopt digital inkjet production with a compact solution to blaze a successful path into the industry.

Lenzing will be at the 56th edition of FILO, taking place on September 29 and 30, in Milan, with its TENCEL™ fiber. Sustainability and ethical values will be the main focus of the event.

Furthermore, to delve deeper in the sustainable approach that drives Lenzing's production processes, on September 30, at 3.00 PM, a presentation with the title "Lenzing's biorefinery concept" will be held by Carlo Covini, Lenzing – Business Development Manager Italy & Switzerland. This will be part of the Dialoghi di Confronto segment set near the Networking Area.

• Circular economy at Kelheim Fibres: Examples of innovation from raw material, product design and all the way to “end of life”

Kelheim Fibres, the world's first viscose fibre manufacturer with an EMAS-certified environmental management system, is continuously working on optimising its special fibres. These can be functionalised as needed - in many cases to save further processing steps (such as dyeing or coating) and thus energy, water and chemicals - and are completely biodegradable at the end of their product life in a short time (according to OECD Test 301 B).

Currently, the specialists in Kelheim are working on the development of alternative raw materials for the production of viscose fibres, such as recycled cellulose as well as other cellulose-containing starting materials. One approach to closing the product cycle in the textile sector is the use of pulp produced from recycled post-consumer waste materials.

In production, Kelheim Fibres focuses on resource conservation by minimising emissions and waste through closed-loop recovery systems, as well as through highly efficient energy generation and the corresponding operation of the plants.

Dr. Roland Scholz, Project Manager Fibre and Application Development at Kelheim Fibres, will present details of this on Wednesday, 15 September, at 5.50 p.m., in Hall B of the 60th Dornbirn GFC WEBINAR WEEK.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

• Excellent project to encourage ingenuity among young students
• Experiment on biodegradability of textiles and nonwovens produces impressive results
• EUR 30,000 in prize money for a total of 209 participating schools in and outside Austria
• Lenzing views supporting these kinds of projects as part of its sustainability mission

Lenzing – The Association of Chemistry Teachers in Austria – known by its German abbreviation, VCÖ – has been holding project competitions that thrill students and take them beyond the traditional syllabus for 30 years. Every two years, it highlights a key topic for ninth- and tenth-graders to explore by conducting special experiments and learning from their observations and conclusions.

This year, the 16th installment of the competition is called, “Achieving a cleaner climate and a circular economy with chemistry”. These topics are also near and dear to the heart of globally active fiber manufacturer Lenzing. That’s why the company promptly announced that it was prepared to support this project competition in several different ways. First, Lenzing made a contribution toward the sponsorship fund totaling EUR 30,000. Second, it initiated a special prize on biodegradability – a topic of growing importance given the huge challenges involved in reducing plastic waste. Finally, Lenzing placed a recognized expert at the students’ disposal to provide assistance and answer questions: Michaela Kogler, Project Manager Nonwovens & Technical Products.

Teaming up with rainworms

Two teams were tasked with biodegrading different fibers – just like those used to produce textiles and nonwovens – with the active participation of worms. Students at BRG solarCity in Linz buried fiber nonwovens, a basic material used in wet wipes and other products, in soil that was populated with numerous rainworms, while students at Vöcklabruck Junior High School for Sports and Integration layered textiles into a vermicomposting bin. Both experiments intended to determine the extent to which certain materials would biodegrade quickly. As it turned out, both projects showed that wood-based fibers, like those that Lenzing manufactures for the textile and nonwoven industry, break down very rapidly into natural constituents that swiftly pass into the soil. In contrast, fossil-based plastics such as polyester or polyethylene cannot be decomposed by worms or bacteria but remain in the soil, sometimes for hundreds of years.

The prizes for this year’s competition were awarded on June 11. The competition attracted entries from no fewer than 209 schools, including 11 from outside Austria. For more information on the projects and the winners, visit www.vcoe.or.at.

We aRe Spin Dye (WRSD) AB (publ) (“WRSD”) has entered into a collaboration agreement with the Norwegian brand Stokke®. Stokke AS, a Norwegian manufacturer of children's furniture and accessories, is well known among parents of young children, since their mission is to manufacture products that strengthen the bond between parent and child.

Stokke is known for creating products that are designed to last a lifetime. High production standards, durable and robust materials, flexibility and adjustment options, together with timeless design, is a guarantee of long life for Stokke's products.

Andreas Andrén, CEO of We aRe SpinDye views the collaboration with Stokke as a very exciting agreement with great potential:
-"Of course, our resource-efficient dyeing method is at the center of this collaboration. I have three children myself and as a parent of small children I know how important it is to have sustainable products. We aRe SpinDye will now be extending the life of Stokke's products. As a result of our textile fiber being homogeneously colored, our fabrics' test values are at the top for what is called "colorfastness to light". Our fabrics are thus bleached considerably less than conventionally dyed fabrics."

Janne Muri, project manager at Stokke for this collaboration, explains Stokke's view on sustainability.
"By taking care of our children, we also protect our planet. We strive for sustainable solutions in everything we do. High quality, sustainable materials and opportunities to adapt the products as the child grows, together with a timeless design, give our products a long lifespan that can last for generations. And with these core values in our group, it feels completely natural that we start a collaboration with We aRe SpinDye."

• EMMA SCALCON is the winner of the first edition of the IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION AWARD, an international competition for communication in sustainable fashion.

The award was established in October 2020 by Connecting Cultures and C.L.A.S.S. with the aim of creating new visual imagery and innovative communication models in sustainable fashion. Stylists, photographers, designers, illustrators, artists and other creatives, invited to rethink how to communicate the new generation of values of an ethical and sustainable fashion system, joined the open and international call.

The name of the winner of the IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION competition was announced during a webinar on March 30th at 4pm led by Giusy Bettoni, CEO of C.L.A.S.S. Eco Hub; Anna Detheridge, President of Connecting  Cultures; Lucy Orta, Chair, Art & the Environment, University of the Arts London; and Dio Kurazawa, Founding Partner of The Bear Scouts.

Born in Padua, Italy, 22 years old, and a student in her second year in Textile & Fashion Design at IAAD - Istituto d'Arte Applicata e Design, Emma Scalcon won the IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION competition with her project TAKE A WALK ON THE GREEN SIDE, designing communications crafted with strong and impactful images and simple but detailed wording intended for younger consumers to inform them about sustainable fashion issues.

Scalcon ranked first among the finalists selected by a high profile jury composed of:
·   Anna Detheridge, Founder and President, Connecting Cultures
·   Giusy Bettoni, CEO and Founder, C.L.A.S.S.
·   Rita Airaghi, Director, Gianfranco Ferré Foundation
·   Paola Arosio, Head of New Brands & Sustainability Projects, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (The National Chamber for Italian Fashion)
·   Jeanine Ballone, Managing Director, Fashion 4 Development
·   Evie Evangelou, Founder and President, Fashion 4 Development
·   Chiara Luisi, Sustainability Projects Coordinator, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (The National Chamber for Italian Fashion)
·   Sara Kozlowski, Director of Education and Sustainable Strategies, Council of Fashion Designers of America  
·   Dio Kurazawa, Socio fondatore, The Bear Scouts
·   Renata Molho, Founding Partner, The Bear Scouts
·   Lucy Orta, Chair, Art & the Environment, University of the Arts London
·   Stefania Ricci, Director, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo

Emma Scalcon was awarded the €3,000 prize, made possible by the Main Sponsor ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei and by the other sponsors of the project: ECOSENSOR™ by Asahi Kasei - a latest generation fabric collection that promotes responsible innovation with advanced high-tech performance, C.L.A.S.S., and the Greek smart cotton SUPREME GREEN COTTON® by Varvaressos.
 
“It is time to be pioneers in communication and for this we have supported the Imagining Sustainable Fashion Award,” commented Takaaki Kondo, global marketing department manager for ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei, the Main Sponsor of the award. ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei is a high quality stretch fibre with an innovative range of intelligent functions to satisfy every modern wardrobe need for sports, underwear, and fashion. “We believe that together with responsible innovation, communication is the key to bring sustainability to the next level: to inspire, educate, inform and allow both professionals and consumers to make the right choices.”

“The competition is an opportunity to rethink how to communicate the new and different values of an ethical and sustainable fashion system,” explained Anna Detheridge. “I am quite impressed with the results of the competition — the diversity of forms that we received show both an interesting change in sensibility and a practical approach to communicating these values. There is less visual rhetoric and reliance on compelling images and more investment in basic information and a greater variety of narratives.

It is a great pleasure to see the energies from a wealth of young creatives, small businesses, and designers from all over the world with cross-disciplinary interests and a diversity of talents who are ushering in a new culture of design. My heartiest congratulations go to Emma Scalcon".

“I completely agree with Anna's comments on the quality of the work submitted by participants in the competition and together we have renewed our intention to continue IMAGINING SUSTAINABLE FASHION into 2021 with a new edition of the award,” stated Giusy Bettoni. “After this initial experience, we find ourselves even more motivated to explore some of the themes that emerged during the selection process, in particular those regarding the ethics of intellectual and cultural property, a topical issue in an industry like fashion. For this reason, we are already working together on organizing a webinar on this topic with outside specialists, including legal experts.”

 21 Grams, the group comprised of Veronica De Nigris, Serena Paone e Immacolata Esposito, won a special contest open to the public among the finalists selected by the jury, receiving the most votes from Instagram followers on C.L.A.S.S.’s corporate Instagram profile. The media partner for the initiative is Renoon, the leading search tool and data hub for sustainable fashion, a rising start-up of the year, aggregating +190 brands offering sustainable options to consumers. 

• 75% recycled content yarn with no performance compromise
• A circular, endlessly recyclable solution for contract, automotive and residential carpets
• Significant resource efficiency in EqoCycle production compared to virgin-based PA6 yarn: 58% reduction in fossil fuel use; 27% less energy consumption; 37% CO₂ emission reduction

B.I.G. Yarns announces its latest development, EqoCycle, a fully recyclable PA6 yarn with 75% recycled content, offering the same high-quality performance of virgin PA6 yarn. The new recycled yarn mainly based on post-industrial waste supports contract, automotive and residential carpet manufacturers with a drop-in circular solution to reduce the ecological footprint of their end products.

EqoCycle is made with recycled granulates derived from pre-consumer recycled and regenerated PA6, certified by Control Union for Global Recycled Standard (GRS) Certification. The use of less virgin materials implicates a decrease of fossil fuels by 58% and a 27% decrease in energy consumption. On top, EqoCycle yarns allow a reduction of 37% of CO₂ eq./kg compared to the fossil based yarns. The environmental impacts of EqoCycle with 75% recycled content were calculated through an LCA analysis, verified according to ISO 14025 and EN 15804+A1 and published in an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD registration number S-P-02415).

Customers have the assurance that for every 1.000 tons of EqoCycle yarn, 13,562 barrels of oil are saved and 2.700 tons of CO₂ emission are reduced, compared to PA6 traditionally made from virgin materials.

Emmanuel Colchen, General Manager Yarns Division, comments: “EqoCycle is a perfect example of how higher resource efficiency in our industry can promote greater circularity in our customers’ industries. Minimizing waste, re-using materials, and saving energy and carbon emissions in production, it provides our customers and carpet brands with a new sustainable alternative that won’t compromise their end-product performance but will support their increasing focus on CO₂ reduction and global warming potential. All part of our wider commitment to encourage decoupling from the need for only virgin feedstocks and moving towards a circular economy for yarns and soft flooring industries.”

EqoCycle is the latest circular solution in B.I.G. Yarns’ PA6 portfolio, joining EqoBalance PA6, based on biomass balance renewable resources, which offers up to 75% CO₂ reduction. Both exemplify the company’s on-going investment in developing new products that better serve customers’ needs in a sustainable way. B.I.G. Yarns fully pursues opportunities to support and solve the global environmental challenges through innovation, investment and collaboration, as part of its sincere belief in, and broader commitment to, Social Responsibility.

The innovation of EqoCycle and EqoBalance PA6 aligns with the company’s active integration of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its business activities, creating value for customers and engaging employees and value chain partners.

Reinach, Switzerland, and Westlake, Ohio, 2 February 2021 - Archroma, a global leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with technology innovator CleanKore, aiming to advance sustainable dyeing processes throughout the denim supply chain.

The agreement will allow Archroma and CleanKore to promote the benefits of each other’s technologies. This includes Archroma’s robust catalog of dyes and specialty chemicals along with CleanKore’s patented process of dyeing yarns at the denim mill that completely eliminates the need for potassium permanganate (PP) spray and laser booster to achieve the bright white abrasion effect in the garment finishing process. The result is a large and circular bright white core with a small ring of indigo dye. The technology does not just eliminate the chemicals associated in the PP spray and laser process, which is much safer for denim workers, it also allows to save significant amounts of water and energy throughout the manufacturing process from fabric to garmenting.

CleanKore initially looked at eliminating potassium permanganate due to its being classified as hazardous if inhaled or ingested, or in case of contact with the skin or the eye. It is also considered very toxic to aquatic life. No new equipment or capital expenses are needed to implement the CleanKore technology, which works on all denim fabric, including dark indigo, sulfur top/bottom and sulfur black.

This is where Archroma comes into the picture. Its global technical team of denim coloration specialists will provide support to denim mills seeking to implement the CleanKore technology and develop the desired looks and effects - with the right colors and chemical systems for their production set-up.

CleanKore estimates that the technology allows to save up to 15 liters of water per garment, or the equivalent to the drinking needs of 5 people per day, and up to 0.51 kWh of energy per garment, or the equivalent of five 100-watt light bulbs on for 1 hour. The CleanKore technology also leads to a 10% to 20% increase in production throughput, as a result of a faster garment wash-down and the elimination of PP spray.

For CleanKore CEO Darryl Costin Jr., the announcement comes at an ideal time for CleanKore: "We have successfully proven the technology with mill partners such as Arvind and other denim mills in Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Thailand and the United States. The response from the industry has been overwhelmingly positive. Having a partner in Archroma, one that is highly respected for their innovation and emphasis on sustainability throughout the industry, will allow us to take CleanKore to the next level.”

Umberto Devita, Global Indigo Manager at the Archroma Global Competence Center for Denim & Casualwear, adds: "CleanKore is perfectly aligned with the 3 pillars of 'The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, efficient, enhanced'. 'Safe' through the elimination of a potentially harmful substance and the protection of the denim workers, 'Efficient' through the reduction of resource consumption, improved productivity and cost-effective profile. And 'Enhanced' through the gorgeous colors and effects allowed with Archroma's innovations and systems, in particular our aniline-free* Denisol® Pure Indigo and Diresul® sulfur dyes. We look forward to help promoting an innovation that will help with many of the challenges facing our denim customers throughout the world. Because it’s our nature."

Flax has accompanied people for thousands of years, in linen fabrics, in ropes, as insulation material. And until the present day. With woven tapes made of flax, vombaur makes the functional and ecological advantages of natural fibres available for lightweight design.

Lightweight and firm
Flax fibres are particularly rigid and tear-proof. Textiles made of the natural material therefore give natural fibre reinforced plastic (NFP) special stability. Additionally, flax has a low density. The components thus combine high rigidity and strength with low weight. Another functional plus: natural fibre reinforced plastics are less prone to splintering than glass fibre reinforced plastics.

Sustainable material
The cultivation of flax binds CO2 and the production of NFP generates 33 percent lower CO2 emissions than conventional fibre reinforced plastics. The energy consumption is 40 percent lower. This reduces production costs and improves the material's CO2 footprint. Punch-packing arguments for natural fibre tapes – like flax tape by vombaur – in lightweight design applications.

Circular Economy
Circular Economy – this also works in lightweight design. The number of recycling cycles without loss of quality is higher for natural fibre reinforced plastics than for glass or carbon fibre reinforced plastics: the thermoplastic matrix of the composite can be melted and recycled after a product life cycle. The natural fibres can "live on" in other products – injection moulded products for example.

Versatile applications
"Composites from our flax tapes are used to reinforce high-tech skis as well as for extruding state-of-the-art window sections – the applications are countless," explains Tomislav Josipovic, Sales Manager with vombaur. "As a development partner, we support applications for the automotive, wind energy, construction, sports and many other industries with our composite textiles."

The Bavarian viscose speciality fibre manufacturer Kelheim Fibres has achieved a leading score in Canopy’s 2020 Hot Button Report. Kelheim Fibres ranks overall among the top 5 producers and was even able to improve their good previous year’s result.

While the company – as in 2019 - is assessed as “low risk" of sourcing from Ancient & Endangered Forests, Kelheim is proud to have invested significantly in “Next Generation Fibre Solutions,” and hopes to reach commercial scale by 2025. Also, highlighted in the report is Kelheim’s increase of the proportion of FSC®-certified fibre.

Kelheim has accepted the recommendation to develop an action plan for continuous improvement of their sustainability: With a certification according to ISO 50001 (energy management), certification according to EMAS (expected at the end of 2020), the application to join ZDHC (Roadmap to Zero) and the newly created position of a sustainability manager, the viscose fibre experts have accomplished a considerable success in a short space of time.

“Canopy’s Hot Button Report not only stands for ethically correct raw material sourcing – it is an overall sustainability indicator for viscose fibre producers.”, so Matthew North, Commercial Director at Kelheim Fibres. “We are proud of our ranking and will follow this path further: Our fibres offer an ecofriendly alternative to synthetic materials. That includes certified sustainable raw material sourcing, resource saving and low-emission production processes as well as the continuous search for improvements and future-oriented solutions.“