From the Sector

• Monomaterial solution contains renewably-sourced polypropylene from the Bornewables™ portfolio of circular polyolefins
• Trexel employs its proprietary MuCell® technology to deliver a range of lightweighting benefits
• EverMinds™ in action: reuse and design for recycling are focus of value chain collaboration

Borealis and Trexel, an expert in foaming injection and blow moulded parts, announce that they have co-developed a new plastic bottle based on a grade from the Bornewables™ portfolio of polyolefins made using renewable feedstocks derived 100% from waste and residue streams. The lightweight bottle – which will be showcased at the Borealis stand at the K 2022 (from 19 to 26 October 2022 in Düsseldorf) – is reusable and fully recyclable. It boasts a significantly lower overall CO₂ footprint because it is composed of renewably-sourced feedstock and produced in the foaming process.

The Bornewables™ portfolio of circular polyolefins helps reduce the carbon footprint while offering material performance equal to virgin polymers. Using Bornewables grades allows for design freedom and colour flexibility, and helps retain a premium look and feel. The grades – which are commercially available in Europe – help conserve natural resources because they are derived solely from waste and residue streams, for example from used cooking oil. Reusing waste already in circulation instead of fossil fuel-based feedstocks enhances the sustainability of applications made using the Bornewables grades.

The reusable new bottle developed by Borealis and Trexel retains its value over many life cycles thanks to the use of Trexel’s proprietary technology in tandem with Bornewables grades; as a material solution, the new bottle minimises the use of valuable raw materials. Moreover, converters consume less energy in the production process when using the MuCell® technology. The bottle thus helps close the loop on plastics circularity by way of design for recycling, the use of renewable feedstocks, and excellent material performance across multiple life cycles.

Stahl, an active proponent of responsible chemistry, has joined CLIB, an international open innovation cluster of stakeholders in the biotechnology space. CLIB is committed to providing networking opportunities for its members across different industries and sectors with a view to using biotechnology to foster sustainability. Stahl’s membership of the network underlines the company’s commitment to open innovation and to working with partners across value chains to reduce its Scope 3 emissions.

CLIB members include large companies, SMEs, start-ups, academic institutes, universities, and other stakeholders engaged in biotechnology and the circular- and bioeconomy as a whole. As part of this cluster, Stahl seeks to connect with likeminded contacts and partners to explore opportunities for increasing the use of bio-based and bio-derived solutions in its chemistries, products, and applications. In turn, Stahl hopes to add value to other members of the network by providing a route to market for biotechnology solutions through the company’s extensive range of industrial products and applications.
 
Stahl’s first face-to-face interaction with its fellow CLIB members will take place at the CLIB Networking Day in October 2022.

The worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibres, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), seeks public input as it begins the revision process for GOTS standard version 7.0.

As a solution for sustainability-related challenges in textile processing, GOTS sets strict and binding requirements regarding ecological and social parameters. These are updated every three years in an open and transparent revision process which fosters constant progress towards the development of better textile processing methods. In this process of continuous improvement, GOTS collaborates with all relevant international stakeholders, including the textile and apparel industry, chemical suppliers, organic farming and environmental organisations, workers' rights groups and labour unions, to ensure ongoing relevance and account for changes in the industry.

The initial period of public input runs from 14 April through 12 June. During this phase, all interested parties, including industry representatives, NGO’s and consumers, are encouraged to participate by submitting comments, feedback, and ideas through GOTS’s online portal.

“We are looking forward to receiving input from stakeholders around the world for GOTS version 7.0. This open call for feedback is part of what keeps our certification requirements up-to-date with the most cutting-edge developments in the industry,” says GOTS Managing Director Rahul Bhajekar.

Beginning in 2022, the revision process will follow the newly developed Standard Setting Procedure, which provides for the constitution of a Standard Revision Committee (SRC) for each revision. This group will serve as the pivotal force behind decisions about the revisions. The SRC consists of experts from different stakeholder groups, including associations, organisations, companies and individuals. All input received by June 12 will be carefully considered by the SRC as well as compiled and made public for an additional 30-day consultation period later this year. All drafts of the standard will also be made public. GOTS standard version 7.0 will be finalised in early 2023, and will be available on the GOTS website.

The timeline for the revision to GOTS version 7.0 is as follows:

1. Constitution of GOTS SRC- April 2022
2. Release of first revision draft for public consultation - 14 April 2022
3. First public consultation period - 60 days (April 14 to June 12)
4. Deliberations by the SRC on input received - May to August 2022
5. Release of second revision draft for public consultation - September 2022
6. Second public consultation period - 30 days from release
7. Deliberations by the SRC on input received - October to November 2022
8. Finalisation of GOTS version 7.0 - February 2023
9. Release of GOTS version 7.0 - March 2023

• RGE has formalised two new partnerships in Singapore to advance sustainable fashion.

The first is a three-year strategic partnership with the Textile & Fashion Federation (TaFF) to advocate sustainable industry practices within Singapore and the region, through programme implementation, research, and education. The second is a five-year research collaboration with Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) on innovation in textile recycling technology.

The partnership with TaFF on its fashion sustainability programme was officially launched today. Through industry talent development and capacity building, raising corporate and consumer awareness, and innovation promotion, TaFF seeks to galvanise the fashion ecosystem towards redefining sustainable fashion.

Wilson Teo, President of TaFF, said, “Our strategic partnership with RGE marks a step forward for TaFF to expand our sustainability ecosystem throughout the fashion value chain, from materials, manufacturing, brands and technology to solutions. We have set up a Steering Committee that spans across the value chain, as a model for the industry. Together with our collaborators, we will continue to equip enterprises in the journey of sustainability. We will also work with communities to build awareness in responsible consumption and recycling.”

RGE has committed to provide nearly S$3 million funding over three years to support TaFF’s fashion sustainability programme. In addition, RGE’s Vice Chairman Bey Soo Khiang joins the programme’s Steering Committee as its Vice Chairperson.

Tey Wei Lin, President of RGE, said, “As a Singapore-based company and the world’s largest viscose producer, our business is well-positioned to support the country’s desire to advance sustainable development and to create a green economy. Our collaboration with TaFF and NTU is an investment of financial and other resources to create meaningful impact, not just within Singapore but also in the region. As part of our US$200 million investment commitment into next-generation textile fibre innovation and technology, we seek to work with innovators, industry partners, research institutions and academia to scale up solutions that will deliver cleaner and more circular cellulosic textile fibre to the masses at affordable prices.”

The launch of TaFF’s fashion sustainability programme follows the roll-out of the Enterprise Sustainability Programme (ESP) by Enterprise Singapore on 1 October 2021, which supports enterprises in their sustainability initiatives and helps them capture new opportunities in the green economy.

“Industry partnerships are pertinent to uplift capabilities of enterprises. We are very encouraged by TaFF’s efforts to drive sustainability in the textile and fashion sector as trade associations and chambers play a key role in strengthening sector-specific capabilities,” said Alan Yeo, Director of Retail & Design at Enterprise Singapore. “Collaborations with corporate partners such as RGE will also help accelerate this process. This is a good start and we hope to eventually see more companies across all sectors start to integrate sustainability alongside their growth.”

The launch event was graced by Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling, TaFF’s patron and Senior Minister of State for National Development and Foreign Affairs Sim Ann, CEO of Enterprise Singapore Png Cheong Boon, as well senior representatives from TaFF and RGE.

The official launch of the research collaboration with NTU is expected to take place next year. A key desired outcome from the collaboration is to complement RGE’s pilot urban-fit textile recycling plant in Singapore.

The Chairman of the Walter Reiners-Stiftung foundation of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association, Peter D. Dornier has awarded prizes to three successful young engineers. The award-winning works provide practical solutions on the topic of circular economy. For example, the recycling of carbon fibres, which are used to produce lightweight components for the automotive industry. Or the environmentally friendly production of yarns from crab shells. Another topic was medical applications: The processing of ultra-fine yarns into stents for aortic repair. The award ceremony took place online on 9 November as part of the Aachen-Dresden-Denkendorf International Textile Conference.  

With a creativity prize, endowed with 3,000 euros, the foundation honoured the diploma thesis of Irina Kuznik, TU Dresden. She used a creative approach to realise solutions for processing chitosan into fibre yarn.

Mr Kai-Chieh Kuo was awarded the diploma/master's thesis promotion prize of 3,500 euros. With his master's thesis, which was written at RWTH Aachen University, Mr Kuo contributes to the production of vital components used in medicine. The stents made of ultra-fine yarns are made possible by an innovative modification of the classic tube weaving process.

The Walter Reiners Foundation rewarded the doctoral thesis of Dr. Martin Hengstermann with the promotional prize in the dissertation category, endowed with 5,000 euros. The thesis deals with the production of recycled carbon fibres. These can be used to produce lightweight components for motor vehicle and aircraft construction or the wind energy sector.

New Prize Sustainability / Circular Economy
The environmental conditions of the textile industry and machine construction are changing. Topics such as climate protection and the circular economy are becoming central. From this perspective, the board of the Walter Reiners Foundation has decided to further develop the foundation's prize system.

In 2022, the foundation will for the first time offer a prize with a focus on design / sustainability. Peter D. Dornier, Chairman of the Foundation, explained: "Already in the design phase, one can set the parameters so that a textile product can be reintroduced after use into the economic cycle for a high-quality application. For example, through the appropriate use of materials and finishing. We are looking for solutions for resource-saving design, technology and manufacturing processes."   

• Results of experiments conducted by the University of California’s prestigious Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego provide further scientific proof that LENZING™ fibers offer an effective substitute to synthetic fibers that are part of the pressing problem of plastic pollution in our oceans.

Lenzing/San Diego – The Lenzing Group, a world-leading provider of wood-based specialty fibers, has received further scientific proof of the biodegradability of its fibers. In a study published in October 2021 , scientists from the prestigious academic research institute Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) at the University of California, San Diego confirmed that wood-based cellulosic fibers biodegrade in the ocean within a short period of time at the end of their life cycle, making them a better alternative to fossil-based fibers. The research was the result of an independent project trying to understand the “end-of-life” scenarios for textiles and nonwovens discarded in the environment.

SIO has a global reputation for being one of the oldest, largest and most important marine research centers worldwide. In this study, SIO compared the degradation processes of nonwovens made from fossil-based synthetic materials such as polyester with those of cellulosic materials such as Lenzing’s wood-based lyocell, modal and viscose fibers in specific scenarios – under various real oceanic conditions and controlled aquaria conditions. The results of these experiments are striking: while wood-based cellulosic fibers fully biodegraded within 30 days, the fossil-based fibers tested were practically unchanged after more than 200 days.

The biodegradability of LENZING™ fibers was also tested in the laboratory of Organic Waste Systems (OWS) in Belgium – one of the world's leading companies in biodegradability and compostability testing – which showed data confirmed by those found with the real-life measurements at Scripps. The OWS assessment was conducted in accordance with applicable international standards and reflects relevant natural and artificial conditions in which biodegradation can occur. Certificates from the certification organization TÜV Austria show that LENZING™ fibers rapidly biodegrade in all test environments (soil, industrial composting, home composting, fresh water and marine water) within the time frames set by the applicable standards.

Lenzing also welcomes the EU’s targeted measures to combat plastic waste in general, such as those relating to the single-use plastic directive (EU) 2019/9043. In its recently adopted guidelines for implementing the directive, the EU Commission stipulates the specific products that fall under this category, which is a well-needed effort to provide clarity to the EU member states for their joint campaign against environmental pollution from plastic waste. Lenzing’s wood-based, biodegradable cellulosic fibers can be part of a sustainable and innovative solution to this man-made problem that will continue to grow. As of July 2021, the single-use plastic directive sets out standardized labelling requirements for certain products, either on packaging or on the products themselves, which include plastic-based feminine hygiene products and wet wipes for body care or household use. This is a start to tackle the problem: educate the consumer and offer alternative materials with better circularity.

RadiciGroup is exhibiting at the A+A trade fair, an international event focusing on safety solutions for the workplace, to be held in Dusseldorf, Germany, from 26 to 29 October. This international show gives RadiciGroup the opportunity to present its latest developments in personal protective equipment (PPE) for industrial use, including coveralls, gowns, caps, full hoods, shoe covers and boots.

This international show gives RadiciGroup the opportunity to present its latest developments in  personal protective equipment (PPE) for industrial use, including coveralls, gowns, caps, full hoods, shoe covers and boots. These products are part of a new line, Radipeople, a trade name identifying the new protective workwear sold by RadiciGroup: end products of a traceable supply chain, in which special attention is paid to the choice of raw materials and the quality of the final products offered the market.

At RadiciGroup, care for the health and safety of people is one of the pillars of the Group's sustainability strategy, combined with a strong commitment to safeguarding the environment. Radipeople Eco, the first protective coverall with 100% end-of-life recyclability is proof of such commitment. All parts of Radipeople Eco: the fabric, lamination, zipper and thread are made of the same material, 100% polypropylene. Furthermore, the Group’s offering includes garments made with Respunsible®, a spundbond obtained from recycled polypropylene or materials certified under the ISCC Plus scheme.

Thanks to their versatility and technical characteristics, the nonwoven solutions proposed by RadiciGroup are suitable for many industrial sectors, including oil and gas, utilities, construction, food, automotive painting and shipbuilding, maintenance, agriculture, laboratories, microprocessor manufacturing and the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Radipeople personal protective equipment delivers excellent protection against external agents (liquids, splashes, jets, particles and sprays), high protection against biological hazards and infectious agents, and high robustness and lightness to optimize protection, on the one hand, and comfort, on the other. All Radipeople protective equipment is made of fully traceable materials, manufactured by a totally Italian production chain involving hundreds of workers, and sold in packaging designed with an ecodesign approach, that is, fully recyclable minimized packaging.

Members of TMAS – the Swedish textile machinery association – are proving instrumental in pioneering new sustainable processes for the dyeing, finishing and decoration of textiles.

The wasteful processes involved in these manufacturing stages are only one component in the development of viable circular supply chains for textiles that are now being established in Sweden.

At the recent Conference on Sustainable Finishing of Textiles, held across three separate afternoons on September 30^th, October 1^st and October 7^th, delegates heard that Sweden will introduce extended producer responsibility (EPR) for waste textiles and clothing at the beginning of 2022, ahead of the adoption of a similar European Union-wide EPR system in 2025.

New fibers
Swedish companies are also active in the development of new fibers derived from waste clothing, building on the country’s legacy leadership in pulp and paper production.

At the Sustainable Finishing of Textiles Conference, however, it was said that all of the environmental gains made by such sustainable new fibers can potentially be cancelled out in the further processing they are subjected to – and especially in resource-intensive conventional dyeing, finishing and decoration.

TMAS members Baldwin Technology and Coloreel have both developed solutions to address this issue.

TexCoat G4
During the conference, Baldwin’s VP of Global Business Development Rick Stanford explained that his company’s TexCoat G4 non-contact spray technology significantly reduces water, chemistry and energy consumption in the finishing process. It consistently and uniformly sprays chemistry across a fabric surface and applies it only where needed, on one or both sides.

Instant coloring
Coloreel’s CEO Mattias Nordin outlined the benefits of his company’s technology which enables the high-quality and instant coloring of a textile thread on-demand and can be paired with any existing embroidery machine without modification. This enables unique effects like shades and gradient to be achieved in an embroidery for the first time.

On 21st October the Managing Director of Officina+39 Andrea Venier has joined a panel discussion in the prestigious arena of the Kingpins24 Digital Show. He contributed to the discussion with his and Officina+39’s point of view on “Water Conservation”, together with Emrah Özkorkmaz from Bregla and Taimur Malik from Stylers International, with Edward Hertzman from Sourcing Journal & Rivet as moderator.

Water crisis remains one of the top issues for humanity and 90% of the world's natural disasters are related to water. Officina+39 has been working hard to rethink the way water is used throughout the denim processes: Andrea's contribution emphasized the company’s practical and consolidated experience in this field, as in recent years their main objective has been to drastically reduce water use in line with UN SDG6.

Andrea pointed out how “fashion industry is still currently deeply rooted in a linear approach: make, use, dispose.” Accordingly to Andrea and Officina+39, the fashion world is becoming aware of this reality and is trying to reinvent itself in order to decrease the use of this precious resource and its negative impacts but there is still work to do in order to redesign a better sustainable model, where circularity should represent the new sustainability: circularity not only when it comes to the materials, but also to water.

In the textile industry water is used as the vehicle for colors and chemical auxiliaries but luckily today many technologies aim at significantly reducing water consumption. Officina+39 is really focused on this target: Andrea explained that “Officina+39 has developed the AQUALESS MISSION, a process suitable for conventional machines that leads to a 75% reduction of the water typically used in denim and garment laundry processes, using a waterless technology and saving costs for producers.”

Despite the start-up cost of investing in the development of sustainable technologies may discourage some in the industry, it is about time to realize that these actions cannot be delayed and that we will increasingly hear about water scarcity, water stress and water risk.

Andrea stated: “It is necessary to develop water management strategies and systems in any company: today there is ISO 14000 related to environmental management, but I believe that governments, brands and related organisations should think about an ISO related just to water management. In this way, every company can understand how much value can be generated in the medium-term and how much money could be saved by investing in this kind of technologies. To create new standards related to water management, we must change the approach.”

SABIC has announced that the newly formed Hygiene & Healthcare segment of its Petrochemicals business will showcase its extensive portfolio of SABIC PURECARES™ polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) polymers for high-purity nonwovens and hygiene films at the upcoming INDEX™ Expo in Geneva, Switzerland, from October 19 through 22, 2021. The company will also present enabling solutions developed with partners to address the issue of plastic waste and support the transformation of the industry towards a circular economy with closed-loop initiatives and certified circular polymers under its TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio and services.

During INDEX, SABIC will exhibit a wide range of PP polymers targeted at these needs. Highlights on display will include dedicated PP and PE grades for lightweight nonwoven fabrics using the latest spunbond and meltblown processes, and a new ultra-high melt flow PP product engineered for meltblown fibers in nonwoven fabrics. The nonwoven focus will be complemented by industry proven polyolefins for cast and blown film applications in hygiene webs and laminates, providing desirable back and top sheet properties such as water tightness, breathability and elasticity.

In addition, SABIC will also present ISCC Plus certified fiber and film polymers based on circular and renewable PP and PE polymer technology as part of the company’s TRUCIRCLE portfolio for advancing the transformation of the plastics industry from a linear to a truly circular economy. Examples of this comprehensive initiative include collaborations with various market leaders in the field. Together with Fibertex Personal Care, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of spunbond nonwovens for the hygiene industry, SABIC is creating a range of high-purity nonwovens for the hygiene market using ISCC PLUS certified circular PP polymer derived from post-consumer plastic waste. In another project, Fraunhofer Institute, SABIC and Procter & Gamble (P&G) joined forces to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of an advanced close-loop recycling process for used nonwoven facemasks.