From the Sector

For its 2021 Green Collection, the Italian luxury hosiery brand Sarah Borghi presents a broadened product offer in terms of colors and categories, meeting the needs of a stylish, yet sustainable consumer. By mixing fashion, quality, innovation and research, the tights and stockings powerhouse continues its development in the journey towards a conscious future.

A decisive step has been added to the brand’s history thanks to the publication of the Integrated Report by Gizeta Calze. Sarah Borghi is one of the first Italian companies in the hosiery sector to include sustainability throughout its business model. A commitment of responsibility and transparency on a path that has been carried on for years and that, today more than ever, becomes of the utmost importance, as stated by Luca Marzocchi, CEO of Gizeta Calze. The Integrated Report provides a complete view of the business strategy, operating model and governance, which combines financial information with sustainability insights, conceived as complementary to other strategies and, indeed, essential for increasing business value.

The collection presents a range of versatile, colorful products combined with extra-luxury comfort and designed for every type of woman: from seductive tights to everyday socks, together with knee- highs, up to athleisure with leggings.
 
The collection features two new generation materials. One is Amni Soul Eco®, a biodegradable in anaerobic conditions polyamide 6.6 yarn that degrades in around 5 years* after disposing of in landfill, developed by SOLVAY and produced and distributed by FULGAR. The other is ROICA™ V550 by leading fiber manufacturer Asahi Kasei, a premium sustainable stretch yarn boasting the Gold Level Material Health Certificate by Cradle-to-Cradle Product Innovation Institute** as it has been evaluated for impact on human and environmental health. Moreover, it smartly breaks down without releasing harmful substances in the environment according to Hohenstein Environment Compatibility Certification. Key elements that makes ROICA™ V550 a precious choice when it comes to Circular Economy material approach.

*Reference System: ASTM D5511 - Standard Test Method for the Determination of Anaerobic Biodegradation of Plastics Under High-solids Anaerobic Digestion Conditions
** The Cradle-to-Cradle Product Innovation Institute, a non -profit organization, administer the Cradle-to-Cradle Certified™ Product Standard. It was created to bring about a new industrial revolution that turns the making of things into a positive force of society, economy and the planet. The Cradle-to-Cradle Certified Product Standard™ provides designers and manufacturers with criteria and requirements for continually improving what products are made of and how they are made aiming to achieve a circular economy approach.

On March 10th, JEC Group and Composites Expert have signed a partnership agreement to promote E-learning Composites Academy, the first 4.0 training platform dedicated to manufacturing processes of composite materials.

This partnership will start with two first steps: an introduction webinar session on March 15th at 4pm CET, and two sessions of training during JEC World 2022, on Tuesday, May 3rd and Wednesday, May 4th, in Paris where Composites Expert will present the E-learning Composites Academy, a new pedagogical approach aimed at appropriating knowledge of polymer transformation specially developed by Composites Expert.

Tools have been designed to combine the theoretical part (E-Learning course platform) and the practical part (BOXs, software, process simulator, exercises through manipulation) to observe complex phenomena, with the aim of mastering and optimising transformation processes. The aim of this presentation is to introduce people to the learning method and the interactivity of the teaching aids used in industry and education.

“One of JEC Group’s objectives is to develop access to education to help the composites industry to attract and train talented professionals. So, we are very proud to announce this partnership and to support Composites Expert initiatives, as joining common efforts and strategies will benefit to the overall industry”, stated Anne-Carole Barbarin, Content and Product development Director.

“The partnership with JEC Group is a major step towards the development of our training platform, while several manufacturers have already supported us, such as Arkema, Chomarat, Daher, Diatex, Pinette PEI, Porcher, Sopara, joining JEC World to officially launch our platform is an amazing opportunity.”, stated Jean-Pierre Cauchois, CEO Composites Expert.

These training sessions are targeting companies’ employees who would like to improve their expertise, to study professional reconversion, the companies who would like to know more or use composite materials, and universities and school for students to go from theory to practical exercises.

• Unveil UK’s first-ever sustainable Fashtech Innovation Centre, displaying mass customization capabilities empowering designers, apparel brands, and other creatives

Kornit Digital Ltd. (NASDAQ: KRNT), a worldwide market leader in sustainable, on-demand digital fashionx and textile production technologies and Fashion-Enter - a social enteprise, which strives to be a centre of excellence for sampling, grading, production, and for learning and development of skills within the fashion and textiles industry – today announced a first-of-its-kind Fashtech Innovation Centre in London. Aimed at bringing on-demand fashion and textile mass customization back to the UK, and unveiled on March 3rd and 4th, 2022 at Fashion-Enter's state-of-the-art training and manufacturing site, the Centre is fully supported by Kornit Digital's revolutionary, direct-to-fabric and direct-to-garment digital production solutions.

According to Kornit Digital’s Impact and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, 30 percent of textile production is overproduction, while 95 percent of water waste is created as companies globally look towards more sustainable futures with customized, creative, and real-time offerings. Using proprietary streamlined, eco-friendly digital production technologies, Kornit Digital is transforming the fashion industry with more efficient and sustainable processes. According to the same report, by 2026, the Company’s systems will use up to 95 percent less water, 94 percent less energy and produce 83 percent less greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to highlighting production capabilities that minimize carbon footprint, the Fashtech Innovation Centre serves as a prototype for brands and fulfillers seeking to mitigate logistical complexities, time-to-market, and supply chain risks by bringing production nearer to the end consumer. Eliminating overproduction and producing on demand, this nearshoring model drives profitability even in highly regulated and high-cost markets while contributing to local economies and removing transport-related waste.

Serving as a fulfilment site and academy for training production, the Centre includes both Kornit Presto direct-to-fabric and Kornit Atlas MAX direct-to-garment systems, as well as numerous graphic design and workflow tools and systems to enable cut-and-sew operations for a comprehensive “pixel to parcel to doorstep” cycle. Consolidating the process into a single location helps maintain full visibility and control of operations and products. Taking this one step further for creators and brands, visitors can experience the KornitX Global Fulfilment Network, enabling customers to create both new sales channels and accessibility to enable production on demand. Attendees can see how Kornit’s single-step digital production technology empowers unlimited graphic expression using less floor space, resources, waste, and time—all at higher margins.

“This Innovation Centre makes it possible to capture the full, end-to-end production process in one, single location,” said Jenny Holloway, Chief Executive Officer, Fashion-Enter. “The beauty of having print on demand means there are no minimums, so we can make one garment, or we can make up to 30,000 garments a week from all locations at the same fixed cost. Here, we can also train future generations on the right way of producing garments for today, responsive to demand, with minimal waste—ethical and sustainable. This is the future of fashion and textiles.”

• The adidas TERREX HS1 is the first product created in partnership with textile material company, Spinnova
• Part of the hoodie’s fabric is made from wood-based fibres
• The adidas TERREX HS1 is a step on adidas’ journey to create nine out of 10 articles with a more sustainable technology, materials, design or manufacturing method by 2025

Eight months after adidas announced its partnership with Finnish textile material company Spinnova, the brand has unveiled its first product made in part with Spinnova fibres.

Composed of a minimum of 25% wood-based fibres and 75% organic cotton, the adidas TERREX HS1 is a mid-layer for hikers that sees adidas exploring a more sustainable textile solution.

adidas is committed to helping end plastic waste via a three-loop strategy that consists of using recycled materials, materials that can be remade into entirely new products, and, in the case of Made with Nature, products created in part with natural ingredients, such as the adidas TERREX HS1. Its outdoor brand, adidas TERREX , is leading the innovation of technical materials with the aim of helping drive better product solutions for adventurers in nature while ensuring there is no compromise on style or performance .

By 2025, nine out of 10 adidas articles will carry a more sustainable technology, material, design, or method of manufacturing and adidas’ partnership with Spinnova is a major part of this journey.

Zünd has evolved into a complete solutions provider in cutting/finishing workflows and automation. The market leader in digital cutting systems offers customers tailor-made workflow solutions for every step of digital production. In recognition of the wide-ranging benefits and exceptional price-performance ratio of these software solutions, a jury of experts from the European Digital Press Association EDP awarded them the distinction of «Best in Class».

Zünd receives EDP awards for three of its software tools. The jury declares PrimeCenter the «Best Workflow Solution», while the Pick&Place Interface Option and the Visualizing Option are recognized as «Best in Robotics» and «Best Print Support Tool», respectively.

Zünd is known worldwide for its advanced, high-performance digital cutting systems «made in Switzerland». For some time now, the Swiss manufacturer has also been making a name for itself with user-friendly automation software such as PrimeCenter for prepress, as well as the Visualizing Option and the Pick&Place Interface Option for digital production. The latter are two highly effective solutions for removing/unloading cut parts, offering visual support and robot integration, respectively. On account of its exceptional know-how and consulting expertise,

• PrimeCenter automation software serves as control center for creating print & cut files and enables a highly efficient and productive prepress workflow. In a few clicks, users create fully nested print & cut jobs.
   
• The Pick&Place Interface Option lets Zünd Cut Center – ZCC control a robotic device, enabling fully automated parts removal—picking, sorting, and placing at pre-defined locations.
   
•  The Visualizing Option provides visual support for parts removal. Cut parts are labeled via projection or monitor. The user is able to see at a glance which parts belong to which job and can apply labels for continuous Track&Trace.

For more than ten years, EDP has been evaluating products and developments in the graphics industry for excellence and for commendation through an evaluation process involving the EDP technical committee, a jury of experts, and finally, a general award assembly of EDP members.

• 76 KL/Day water saving by optimizing pH analysis process in dye vessels
• A step closer to achieving the ‘Huntsman Horizon 2025’ goal
• Potential savings of over Rs 10 crore or USD146,000 annually from the project

Huntsman Textile Effects, the global leader in innovative and environmentally sustainable dyes, chemicals, and digital inks, has successfully implemented a water conservation process to improve water efficiency and reduce net water usage at its Baroda facility, which is located in the western region of India. The initiative undertaken at the plant aims to save around 76 kilo liters of Reverse Osmosis water per day by modifying the phase sequence in the pH measurement program.

Water is used extensively throughout textile processing operations. The amount of water used varies widely in the industry, depending on specific processes operated at the plant, equipment used, and policies concerning water use. This conservation project at the Baroda Plant will have a potential savings of Rs 10 crore or USD146,000 a year for the organization.

Speaking on the development, Mark Devaney, Vice President Manufacturing and Operations Excellence, Huntsman Textile Effects said, “At Huntsman, we recognize the important role we play in creating a more sustainable future and are committed to the well-being of the communities where we operate, and the protection of the environment. We are continually looking for ways to improve the environmental footprint of our manufacturing sites and have been implementing numerous projects in recent years to reduce our water usage.”

“The team has done a detailed assessment of the pH analysis process in dye vessels, mapping the existing water usage and potential conservation method. After a brief study and several brainstorming sessions, we were able to adjust the phase sequence, resulting in conservation of Reverse Osmosis water by almost 76 kilo liters of water per day.” said Kavishwar Kalambe, Site Director, Huntsman Textile Effects. “This project directly contributes to Huntsman’s Horizon 2025 goals to reduce net water usage at facilities in water-stressed regions,” he added.

The textile service provider Hohenstein has successfully extended its accreditations as a testing laboratory and certification body to include FFP (Filtering Face Pieces) respiratory masks in accordance with DIN EN 149, thus completing its portfolio in the textile mask sector. The necessary functional and safety tests on community masks, medical masks and FFP respiratory masks contribute to consumer safety. In addition, Hohenstein has not only been a member of the German Mask Association since September 2021, which pools the expertise of all mask manufacturers and suppliers in Germany, but also supports the Quality Working Group with its expertise in the field of textile protective clothing.

Filtering Face Pieces are primarily used for the self-protection of the wearer and are intended to protect from harmful aerosols, particles and droplets. There are different protection levels for FFP respiratory masks (FFP 1-3), depending on how well they retain liquid and solid particles. In occupational safety, they are part of personal protective equipment (PPE) and fall under category III. Their protective function is specified throughout Europe by the DIN EN 149:2009-08 standard, which requires laboratory tests and practical performance tests with test persons. The Hohenstein testing laboratory carries out reliable proof of the safety of FFP respiratory masks in several test steps:

• Through visual inspection, the Hohenstein experts assess the correct labelling, the comprehensibility of the enclosed instructions for using the masks, as well as the functionality and packaging.   
• Laboratory tests can determine, among other things, breathing resistance, filter medium transmittance and inward leakage. The practical performance of FFP respiratory masks is assessed through realistic tests with test persons.
• Test persons can also be employed to assess other parameters such as skin tolerance, field of vision or headgear comfort.
• Optional tests, such as testing FFP respiratory masks for harmful substances, complete the safety verification.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, a particularly large number of FFP respiratory masks with doubtful and even false labelling have been in circulation, so reliable and neutral testing and certification of these products is essential. Hohenstein, with its many years of extensive experience in the testing and certification of personal protective equipment, thus offers the ideal service for customers who value testing quality "Made in Germany".

As a testing laboratory for medical devices, Hohenstein also offers testing of medical face masks for their bacterial filtering performance, differential pressure as an indicator of breathing activity, microbiological purity and cytotoxicity, among others. Medical face masks fall under the Medical Devices Regulation 2017/745 and fulfil the requirements according to EN 14683. The testing service provider Hohenstein has already taken a big step towards safety and functionality with the introduction of its quality label for Tested Community Masks in June 2020 and also tests according to the first European Guideline for Everyday Masks, the CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) 17553:2020.

CO₂ as renewable carbon source
Carbon is the main element in numerous materials used in industrial processes and in our daily lives. It is currently mostly provided from fossil sources. But what if carbon could be used directly from CO₂ emissions? Biotechnology shows particularly great potential for the eco-effective conversion of climate-damaging CO₂ emissions into valuable basic chemicals. A consortium of 12 partners investigated this pathway in the EU-funded BioRECO₂VER project, examining the conversion of CO₂ emissions from refineries and the cement industry into the chemical building blocks isobutene (C₄H₈) and lactate (C₂H₆O₃).

Innovative chemo-enzymatic concept for CO₂ Capture
Project partner Luleå University of Technology (LTU) focused on the first process step of capturing and concentrating CO₂ from industrial point sources. Their team developed a hybrid chemo-enzymatic process consisting of a novel solvent blend and an ultrastable carbonic anhydrase (CA) enzyme. The solvent blend included an amino acid ionic liquid and a tertiary amine and displayed a good compromise between enzyme compatibility, absorption rate, capacity and desorption potential. In addition, LTU generated ultrastable enzyme mutants that showed 50% increased resistance to selected flue gas inhibitors compared to the original CA. This 3-component CO₂ capture process was scaled up in a pilot rig, and the set-up further used for real off gas pre-treatment in the project.

Two unique pilots for biotechnological CO₂ Conversion/Utilization
The biotechnological conversion of (captured) CO₂ and the co-substrate hydrogen by microorganisms poses technical and economic challenges because it takes place in the liquid phase and the substrates are gases which are poorly soluble. The BioRECO₂VER project investigated two approaches to address this: fermentation under elevated pressure and bio-electrochemistry with in situ production of hydrogen.

Pressurized fermenter
Project coordinator VITO designed a flexible and multifunctional high-pressure fermenter, customized for research activities with advanced online sensors, monitoring and control, and also including a membrane filtration unit to achieve high concentrations of the microbial biocatalysts. The set-up was broadly tested in the BioRECO₂VER project both with pure CO₂ and CO₂-rich off-gases but can also be used for investigations involving other poorly soluble gases, such as methane, oxygen, or synthesis gas. Pressures up to 10 bar can be applied.

First solely CO₂-based bio-electrochemical platform
University of Girona designed and tested a bio-electrochemical platform. The key differentiators of the pilot plant are:

• Two parallel lines to test engineered strains and bio-electrochemical systems
• Fully automated pilot plant capable to control key operational parameters (pCO₂, pO₂, pH₂, pH, Temperature) to intensify the process performance
• Solid-liquid separation unit (membrane) to recover the planktonic cells and return them into the bio-electrochemical systems.

This unique infrastructure will be used beyond the project to support further research and development activities in the broad area of CO₂ capture and conversion.

Kornit Digital Ltd. announced that Portuguese textile specialist Blur has installed the Kornit Presto S with Softener solution for sustainable, single-step direct-to-fabric production of multiple fabrics in any quantity. The print services provider, which supports the production needs of high fashion brands has previously installed multiple Kornit Atlas and Avalanche systems for industrial-scale digital direct-to-garment (DTG) production on demand.

Using Kornit’s efficient, eco-conscious, proprietary technology and consumables, Blur provides rapid fulfillment of orders ranging from a single piece to mass production, with an average order of about 500 items. Since implementing the Kornit Presto S, the system has been in operation day and night, producing samples during normal business hours and fulfilling diverse incoming orders overnight.

Mariano Dias, CEO at Blur, believes Kornit technology empowers his business to adapt quickly to the constantly evolving needs of his clients, which include both larger established brands seeking large quantities and ambitious designers seeking to build a brand with limited risk or investment. In many cases, they are fulfilling different types of designs for clients serving both Europe and North American markets.
“The quality is just outstanding, and some clients only want to print with Kornit technology”, said Dias. “We are extremely happy with Kornit’s collaboration, and our printers are working perfectly around the clock. Any textile printing company looking to move into fashion and work with famous brands will need both roll-to-roll and DTG capabilities. Our recommendation for success is to buy the Kornit Atlas and Kornit Presto printers.”

He added that Blur’s success with its current Kornit systems, as well as increased demand for sustainably-produced textiles, has the business considering the addition of a second Kornit Presto S to accommodate additional volumes.

“As with many of our customers, Blur was built around more traditional textile operations—in their case embroidery—before discovering the vast potential for growth and versatility offered by quick, efficient, digital production on demand,” said Chris Govier, Kornit Digital Europe, Middle East, and Africa President. “Whether you’re serving an internationally-known fashion house looking for more agile fulfillment and simpler supply chains, or the independent creator hoping to bring unique inspirations to life, Kornit’s product portfolio offers continuous opportunities to answer market needs, create new markets, and scale upwards under any conditions.”

The OEKO-TEX® Association has published its annual update of the applicable test criteria, limit values and guidelines for its certifications. All new regulations will finally come into force on 1 April 2022 after a transition period. In addition, the new Impact Calculator is now available for STeP by OEKO-TEX® customers. The tool, which was developed specifically for textile industry operations, provides data on the CO2 and water footprint necessary to achieve the climate targets.

In mid-2022, the association will introduce RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS by OEKO-TEX®, a new certification for brands and retailers committed to international agreements for human rights and environmental protection. OEKO-TEX® aims to support companies in fulfilling due diligence obligations within their own operations and their global supply chains. RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS by OEKO-TEX® was developed in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the relevant OECD Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct.

New and updated limited values
OEKO-TEX® has added bisphenol B (BPB) in the STANDARD 100, LEATHER STANDARD and ECO PASSPORT by OEKO-TEX® certifications and to the STeP by OEKO-TEX® MRSL. The same applies to two additional colourants based on Michler’s ketone/base.

New substances under observation
In 2022, OEKO-TEX® will continue to monitor various substances based on the latest scientific findings and conformity with relevant specifications. This primarily concerns some process preservative agents and the bisphenols F, S and AF. The 2022 new regulations are available in detail for all OEKO-TEX® products on the website www.oeko-tex.com/news.