From the Sector

January 2024 marks the official birth of ERCA TCS (Textile Chemical Solutions), a business unit of ERCA S.p.A. with a focus on the textile market. Founded in the 1960s, ERCA S.p.A. is an Italian company, present with six plants in three macro-regions: Europe, Latin America and Asia. The ERCA group produces specialty and auxiliary chemicals with a responsible innovation approach and its production covers several markets: textiles, cosmetics, polyurethanes, concrete.

Why a business unit that caters solely to the textile industry? The decision to give birth to ERCA TCS comes from the desire to be a unique and innovative reference point for ERCA's customers, with products and
services designed specifically for the needs of today's textile industry, grappling with the challenges and
opportunities of sustainability and responsible production.

ERCA TCS bases its activities on the principles of "Green Chemistry" with the aim of offering the textile industry chemical solutions that make the concepts of safety, performance and circularity a reality. The chemical auxiliaries of ERCA TCS are the result of a vision that incorporates responsible innovation, continuous research, and a desire to offer to the market effective yet ethically, environmentally, and economically sustainable solutions.

The green, high tech and circular commitment of ERCA TCS is demonstrated by a product and brand range that is totally based on the circular economy, which started from a problem - the disposal of used vegetable oil - and turned it into a resource, into a raw material for the production of chemical auxiliaries for the textile industry: REVECOL®, the circular range of high-performance, made-in-Italy, GRS-certified chemical auxiliaries. The REVECOL® range can be used on any type of fiber, recycled or not.

• TreeToTextile sustainable textile fibre demo plant in Sweden

TreeToTextile, owned by H&M Group, Inter IKEA Group, Stora Enso, and LSCS Invest, invested €35 million in constructing a textile fiber process technology demonstration plant in Sweden. AFRY supported TreeToTextile throughout the project in the development and implementation phases from 2016-2022. The demonstration plant is now in the start-up phase.

TreeToTextile is offering a new technology to produce bio-based textile fibers with a low environmental footprint and aims to make sustainable textile fibers available to all. The new fiber is a regenerated cellulosic fiber, produced from renewable and sustainably sourced raw materials from forests. TreeToTextile has invested €35 million in developing and constructing a new demonstration plant in Nymölla, Sweden. This investment is a crucial step prior to the scale-up and commercialization of this technology.

AFRY has been the leading consultant and engineering partner of TreeToTextile from its early stages of project development in 2016, continuing onto demo plant implementation engineering from 2020-2022 In the project development phase, AFRY’s assignment included several pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, process design, up-scaling evaluations, and supplier pilot runs planning. In the demo plant implementation phase, AFRY was responsible for the engineering, project management and site services, also providing many additional services like permit and procurement support as well as machine and IT solutions.

“AFRY and TreeToTextile have a long-lasting, mutually developing relationship that we hope to continue. Together with AFRY, we have overcome the challenges through close collaboration, flexibility, broad competence and most important of all, mutual commitment”, says Olli Ylä-Jarkko, CTO at TreeToTextile.

The commissioning of the demonstration plant started in the summer of 2022, and the project was handed over to TreeToTextile for start-up and further optimization of the process.

“I’m proud of the deep and long-lasting cooperation with TreeToTextile. This project shows AFRY’s ability and wide competence to meet various demands of customer investment projects – from early phase development to implementation. AFRY’s long experience with bio-based materials, combined with our extensive process industry and project execution experience, makes us a unique partner for industrial clients in accelerating their bio-based fibers to scalable commercial production”, says Lisa Vedin, Head of Process Industries Sweden at AFRY.

The Global Organic Textile Standard is pleased to announce the release of GOTS Version 7.0, which features an expanded scope of environmental and social criteria while maintaining a standard that is practicable for industrial production and appropriate for a wide range of products. During the regular year-long revision process, international stakeholders with expertise in organic production, textile processing, textile chemistry, human rights and social criteria, as well as representatives from industry, NGOs and civil society organisations, contributed to the new Version 7.0 through multiple consultation rounds. Final decisions were made by the multistakeholder GOTS Standard Revision Committee.

GOTS Version 7.0 provides a comprehensive solution for companies who want to produce organic textiles ensuring compliance with environmental and human rights due diligence along the entire supply chain, from field to finished product. With full traceability from origin to destination, GOTS certification provides an efficient means of verifying genuine sustainability efforts. GOTS 7.0 introduces new requirements to conduct risk-based due diligence of Certified Entities’ own operations and their supply chains based on the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights and the OECD guidelines. The Social Criteria section was substantially revised to include a broader human rights-focused approach. GOTS 7.0 now allows recycled organic fibres as additional materials. Key requirements, such as certified organic fibre content, a general ban on toxic and harmful chemicals such as PFAS, conventional cotton and virgin polyester restrictions, and social compliance management, are maintained in GOTS Version 7.0.

Some of the changes in Version 7.0 include:

• GOTS and the Manual for the Implementation of GOTS were restructured, and sections were grouped to reflect the standard’s scope.
• New due diligence criteria ensures that Certified Entities address their actual and potential negative impacts on human rights and the environment.
• GOTS Environmental Criteria, Product Stewardship, and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) requirements will also apply to the subcontractors of chemical formulators.
• Criteria for the incoming organic material have been made stricter.
• Quinoline is included among the prohibited substances and some existing restrictions have been made tighter such as of “aniline, free”, residue limit is decreased to 20 mg/kg from 100 mk/kg.
• GOTS 7.0 reduces the permissible quantity of recycled synthetic (polymer) fibres in its certified products, taking into account the disadvantages associated with recycled synthetics, such as microplastics and poor quality.
• In the pursuit of circularity, GOTS will allow use of recycled GOTS Goods waste as an additional fibre in its certified products.
• GOTS Human Rights and Social Criteria will now require Certified Entities to respect internationally recognised human rights protocols, including the International Bill of Human Rights and other international human rights treaties.
• Criteria concerning Discrimination, Violence and Harassment were revised to make them more comprehensive and include the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Violence and Harassment Convention (C190).
• Certified Entities are now required to develop a plan to cover the living wage gap.
• GOTS Occupational Health and Safety criteria were revised to consider best international practices and recommendations from the ILO.

For more information, see the following documents:

• GOTS Version 7.0
• Change Log GOTS 7.0
• Change Log Manual for the Implementation of GOTS 7.0
• Guideline for the new structure of GOTS 7.0

Textile performance inspired by nature - Swiss textile manufacturer Schoeller Textil AG launches the sustainable textile collection RE-SOURCE as part of its brand sustainability strategy. All textile innovations in the collection are made from bio-based, post- as well as pre-consumer materials such as recycled polyester and spandex. These are further enhanced with Schoeller textile technologies to provide the wearer with breathability, thermal regulation and wind and water repellency.

Two textile innovations in the collection have been lined on the inside with natural NATIVA Merino wool, produced under the highest sustainability standards. The manufacturing process of NATIVA Merino wool is 100% transparent and traceable for consumers through blockchain technology. NATIVA farms worldwide meet strict social and environmental requirements for animal welfare (ban on mulesing), land management and ethical labour guidelines.

Schoeller is committed to the CODE OF CONDUCT, which guarantees transparent production chains, environmental protection and fair working conditions. All RE-SOURCE textile innovations are bluesign approved - the international standard for responsible and sustainable textile manufacturing.

"The special Q-cycle process was used for RE-SOURCE. The resistant and durable Q-cycle polyamide is obtained by pyrolysis of used tyres and thus saves Co2 emissions compared to the combustion process. In this way, we are helping to protect the climate with Q-cycle," says Hans Kohn, COO, Schoeller Technologies AG.

The new recycled textile collection will be presented at the PERFORMANCE DAYS textile trade fair in Munich from 15-16 March 2023.

Kelheim Fibres, a leading manufacturer of viscose speciality fibres, has joined Recycling Atelier Augsburg. Recycling Atelier Augsburg is a unique centre for research and development in the field of textile recycling. It is located at the Institut für Textiltechnik Augsburg an affiliated institute of Augsburg University of Applied Sciences. The two institutions founded the Recycling Atelier in June 2022 together with twelve partners from the German textile industry.

In the Recycling Atelier, the focus is on the triad of technical and ecological sense as well as economic benefit. In this way, the partners of the Recycling Atelier are standing up against fast fashion, outsourced corporate responsibility and a general decline in raw material quality, which often fuels downcycling - the low-quality reuse - of materials.

As a model factory, the Recycling Atelier Augsburg combines the most important processes of textile recycling and offers holistic and comprehensive research along the value chain," explains Georg Stegschuster, head of the Recycling Atelier Augsburg. The scientists research on all process steps of textile recycling: from material analysis to sorting, preparation and textile processing to sustainable product design. Comprehensive data collection and the use of artificial intelligence as well as innovative materials play a central role.

Kelheim Fibres is a producer of high-quality viscose fibres, which consist of cellulose, the main component of the renewable raw material wood, and are used worldwide for products in areas such as hygiene, textiles, and technical applications.

"In New Business Development as well as Fibre and Application Development, we follow the Open Innovation concept - the cooperation with the Recycling Atelier offers us an ideal platform for this. Here we work with partners to advance sustainability and performance," explains Maik Thiel, project manager at Kelheim Fibres.

Recycled cotton fibres are often very short or of uneven length, which makes further processing of 100 % recycled material a challenge. Adding speciality fibres from Kelheim Fibres should enable the production of high-quality new products, such as nonwovens. In the future, the fibres provided by Kelheim Fibres will also be made from recycled pulp.

• At end 2022, Carbios has 336 titles worldwide divided into 53 patent families for its innovation in enzymatic recycling of PET plastics and fibers, and its PLA biodegradation technology
• Carbios’ team of Intellectual Property experts is dedicated to protecting its innovations

 
Carbios has doubled its number of issued patents since the last review published at the end of 2020. Carbios (and its subsidiary Carbiolice) currently holds 336 titles worldwide divided into 53 patent families.  In 2022, several titles protecting the proprietary PET-degrading enzymes were granted in countries of interest such as the United States and also in Asian countries including Indonesia, South Korea, China, Japan and India.  Carbios has also obtained grants within its patent families protecting the biodegradable plastics production process, notably the masterbatch containing the enzyme or its production process.
 
Carbios is expanding its intellectual property portfolio in regions and countries where there is strong demand for its disruptive technologies, notably :

• in Europe: 40 European titles, which could be granted in the 39 member states of the European Patent Organization
• in North America: 41 titles in the United States and 23 in Canada
• in Asia: 152 titles, including 37 in China, 27 in Japan and 24 in India

Carbios also has 14 patent applications that may be extended to other countries or regions of the world in the coming years.

“Over the past two years, we have mainly focused on strengthening the protection of our PET biorecycling process and its proprietary enzymes,” commented Lise LUCCHESI, Director of Intellectual Property at Carbios. “For the coming years, we will continue to consolidate the protection of this process, and that of our PLA biodegradation process, by filing new patent applications. We will also actively follow up on our filed patent applications in order to obtain granted patents.”
 
“Since the beginning of Carbios, the R&D and Intellectual Property departments have worked hand in hand to ensure maximum protection of our enzymes and processes,” commented Alain Marty, Chief Scientific Officer at Carbios.  “These continued efforts to obtain extensive international protection are crucial to safeguard our innovations and ensure the industrial deployment of our technologies.”

Archroma announced the closing of the acquisition of the Textile Effects business from Huntsman Corporation (“Huntsman Textile Effects”).

When the Huntsman Textile Effects acquisition was first announced in August 2022, Archroma Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Heike van de Kerkhof called the transaction a “merger of equals”. Indeed, the global business of Huntsman Textile Effects comprises approximately 2,300 employees in 33 countries and 10 production sites globally which, when combined with Archroma, means the company will have more than 5,000 employees in total, in 42 countries and 35 production sites.

In addition to the closing of the Textile Effects acquisition, Archroma announced that it has updated its overall business into two operating divisions for growth, each focused on a separate end market.

The Textile Effects business acquired from Huntsman will be integrated with the Brand & Performance Textile Specialties business of Archroma into one new division named Archroma Textile Effects. The new division will be led by Rohit Aggarwal, former President of Huntsman Textile Effects, who is appointed as Divisional President & CEO of the Archroma Textile Effects division, as well as President Asia.

The Packaging & Paper Specialties and Coatings, Adhesives & Sealants businesses of Archroma have been recently combined into one new division named Archroma Paper, Packaging & Coatings, under the leadership of Sameer Singla, Divisional President & CEO of the Archroma Paper, Packaging & Coatings division, as well as President Americas and Europe, Middle East & Africa.

This new structure will ensure that both divisions obtain the resources and focus needed to continue providing Archroma’s customers and business partners with the superior experience and solutions they have come to expect.

In particular, Archroma is committed to supporting global megatrends and societal shifts such as circular fashion, plastic-to-paper replacement, and water-based paints and coatings, with the innovations and solutions needed to do so.

The Organic Cotton & Textiles Conference, taking place in Indore, India over three days, from February 27-March 1^st is set to bring together a diverse group of key players from every part of the textile supply chain. Farmers, farm groups, industry representatives, non-profits, academics, suppliers, brands, certifiers, government representatives and policymakers will join nearly 200 guests at the multi-day event. The aim is to foster collaboration, explore innovative ideas, listen to those on the ground and focus discussions to develop a shared vision to boost the organic textile supply chain worldwide.

Co-hosted by  OCA, GOTS, and IFOAM - Organics International, the conference will address a range of subjects including social conditions, transparency through innovation, scaling up organic through investment, as well as sessions tackling certification, decent work and environmental impacts. The event also gives voice to farmers, who join as panellists, in a dedicated Q&A session with seven organic cotton farmers from the region. On the third day, organised by OCA, the organic farmers will welcome attendees to their communities during field trips west to Petlawad to witness organic practices at ground level.

“By addressing these important issues and fostering a dialogue between participants, the conference aims to develop innovative solutions that can drive progress and growth in the sector", says Bart Vollaard, Executive Director of OCA. "We are thrilled to be joining forces with GOTS and IFOAM to create positive change in the organic textile sector."

“Together with IFOAM - Organics International and OCA, GOTS wants to increase visibility of organic and at the same time enhance integrity of organic fibres and textiles. This conference shall serve to strengthen the sector by addressing obstacles and work on effective solutions, in consultation with all relevant and committed stakeholders”, notes Claudia Kersten, Managing Director of GOTS.

Sarah Compson of the IFOAM - Organics International World Board adds “Organic agriculture directly addresses some of the most pressing challenges of our time. IFOAM - Organics International is delighted to collaborate with OCA and GOTS to bring together people from across the whole textile sector and address the barriers and opportunities for scaling organic cotton production worldwide.”

With a strong line-up of notable speakers and guests in a supportive and engaging atmosphere, and a unique approach that connects participants from every step of the supply chain, the Organic Cotton & Textiles Conference is set to be a valuable and transformative event for key stakeholders involved in the organic textile industry.

• Standard assesses fibre release, biodegradation and ecotoxicity for the first time

Testing service provider Hohenstein has worked with the project partners Trigema, Freudenberg, DBL ITEX and Paradies to create a new standardized test method for detecting and classifying the environmental effects of textiles during washing. DIN SPEC 4872 combines analysis of fibre release, biodegradability and ecotoxicity. The test method according to DIN SPEC 4872 shows how many fibres are released during textile laundering, how well these fibres degrade in wastewater and how harmful the fibre residues are to the environment.

Studies have shown that washing textiles releases microfibres into the wash water, which cannot be sufficiently retained by wastewater treatment plants. Synthetic fibres pose the greatest risk to the environment because of their longevity and inability to biodegrade. However, Hohenstein project manager Juliane Alberts does not give the all-clear for biodegradable fibres and natural fibres: "Biodegradability alone does not mean that pure natural fibres, for example, are completely harmless to the environment. They, too, remain in ecosystems until they completely degrade and can also have a negative impact. In addition, additives, auxiliaries or finishes used in textile production can further slow the degradation process and leach into the environment."

The new standard enables textile producers and suppliers to test, evaluate and compare products for fibre release during washing and environmental impact. Juliane Alberts sees this systematic evaluation as an opportunity for the textile industry to take the initiative on environmental impact: "Our reliable data can be used as a basis for more targeted product development. This is a way to actively and consciously control further environmental pollution."

The Woolmark Company, the Italian wool fabric mill Vitale Barberis Canonico (VBC) and Haelixa took part in a trial to trace Australian wool fibers up to the final fabric.

Funded by Australian woolgrowers, The Woolmark Company (TWC) is an enterprise that focuses on investments that enhance the profitability, international competitiveness, and sustainability of Australian wool. In their operations, TWC seeks to be transparent and accountable. In line with this strategy, traceability is necessary to ensure transparency and maintain the credibility of TWC.

In December 2021, Haelixa marked wool fibers with their DNA tracing solution. There are infinite DNA markers that could be produced and used to indicate a specific origin, supply chain, material, or particular collection. In this case, a single DNA has been applied to greasy wool and a second DNA marker to scoured wool. The first DNA identifies the origin of the Australian wool, while the second determines the manufacturer where the wool has been further processed; at Vitale Barberis Canonico mill.

Samples were collected from various production stages, where a qPCR test was used to detect each specific DNA marker. Haelixa uses a “Key-Lock” system to detect a marker; one needs to know the particular DNA to screen for, ensuring that the system is tamper-proof. The DNA markers stay safely embedded in the product, enabling traceability of greasy and scoured wool up to greige fabric and finished fabric, respectively.

With increasing cost pressure and competition in the wool fabric market, traceability is becoming a prerequisite to proving authenticity and origin. TWC and Vitale Barberis Canonico support the culture of sustainability and collaboration.