23 minute read
The higher demand for sustainable products
A year into lockdown The higher demand for sustainable products
• 61% of brands and retailers say their customer demand has increased for environmentally sustainable business practices and goods/services. • Nearly two thirds (63%) believe that the pandemic has had a positive impact on their company’s proactive investment in sustainability. • Half of brands and retailers are expecting to see an increase in consumer spending on sustainable apparel over the next 12 months.
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Consumers around the world have adapted to social distancing measures and lockdowns over the last 12 months, with the way they dress, work, and shop changing dramatically. The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol recently surveyed sustainability decision-makers at 1,000 brands and retailers in the U.S. and UK to determine the impact the pandemic has had on the importance of and investment in sustainability initiatives. As brands and retailers look to the future, there is a sense of optimism for increased consumer spending and investment in environmentally friendly practices – with 28% of brands and retailers committed to setting new industry standards for sustainability.
As the one year of many countries going into lockdown approaches, the Trust Protocol’s research findings reveal that 69% of brands and retailers believe that the pandemic has emphasized the importance of environmentally friendly products to
CONSUMER DEMAND IS LEADING BRANDS’ AND RETAILERS’ CONFIDENCE IN SUSTAINABILITY
Future of sustainable business practices
Brand and retailer sustainability decision makers in U.S. and UK see greater demand for sustainable practices, predicting an increase in consumer spending in sustainable apparel.
What are your company’s main areas of focus when it comes to environmental and sustainable initiatives for the next 12 months? Select up to 3
42% 42% 40%
Sustainable manufacturing – reducing impacts of chemicals, water and energy Sourcing sustainably produced raw materials Safe working conditions
To what degree is your organization planning to decrease or increase investments in external sustainability standards or protocols?
43%
Increase
40%
No change
11%
Decrease
Over the next 12 months, do you expect an increase or decrease in customer spending in sustainable apparel?
50%
Increase
22%
No change
20%
Decrease The impact of COVID-19
Despite COVID-19 brands and retailers have increased investments in sustainability initiatives believing that the pandemic has brought to light how important sustainable and environmentally friendly products are to customers.
What kind of impact has COVID-19 had on your company’s proactive investments in or future commitments to sustainability initiatives, partnerships or standards?
Positive
No impact
Negative
63% 15% 23%
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, how has your customer demand changed for environmentally sustainable business practices and goods/services?
More demand than before
No change
Less demand than before
61% 27% 12%
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? ‘I believe the Covid-19 pandemic has brought to light how important sustainable and environmentally friendly products are to customers.’
69%
Agree
26%
Neither agree not disagree
6%
Disagree
customers – with two-thirds (61%) also noting that there has been an increased demand for sustainable products.
The research also found that 63% of brands and retailers stated that the pandemic has had a positive impact on their company’s proactive investment in sustainability with the following main areas of focus: • Sourcing sustainably produced raw materials (42%) • Manufacturing sustainability and reducing impacts of chemicals, water and energy (42%) • Safe working environments (40%)
“It is undeniable that the pandemic has caused unforeseen challenges for brands, retailers and consumers alike – but this research reaffirms the commitment to a continued focus on sustainability,” said Dr. Gary Adams, president of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol. “We’re encouraged to learn that so many brands and retailers are looking to set new standards for the industry, instead of simply following what currently exists. As we work towards recovery in many sectors, systems like the Trust Protocol are available to provide the data needed to verify that sustainability targets are being met.”
As the vaccine roll-out picks up pace across the world, consumers are beginning to think about the ‘new normal’, with half (50%) of brands and retailers expecting to see an increase in customer spending on sustainable apparel over the next 12 months. They attribute the most common drivers for this increased spending to a need for people to get back to normal (62%) and that some consumers will have saved
money during the pandemic (67%).
As work continues towards delivering more sustainable options to meet growing consumer demand, findings show two thirds (65%) of brands and retailers agree that data is important to their future sustainability goals. The Trust Protocol will provide brands and retailers the critical assurances they need to show the cotton fiber element of their supply chain is more sustainably grown with lower environmental and social risk.
The Trust Protocol is a system for more responsibly grown cotton that has committed to six areas of sustainability in line with the U.N. Sustainability Development Goals. It underpins and verifies sustainability progress through sophisticated data collection and independent third-party verification, enabling members to better track the cotton entering their supply chain. Members also will have access to aggregate year-over-year data on water use, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, soil carbon and land use efficiency.
The Trust Protocol is included on the Textile Exchange’s list of 36 preferred fibers and materials that more than 170 participating brands and retailers can select from as part of Textile Exchange’s Material Change Index program. The Trust Protocol also is working to align with existing standards in the cotton industry and is part of the Forum for the Future Cotton 2040 and the CottonUp guide.
The Lycra company introduces COOLMAX® and THERMOLITE® EcoMade fibers
As the consumer's desire for stretch denim jeans continues to grow, so does their concern about our industry's impact on the environment. Increasingly, they're looking for denim with recycled materials to improve their ecological footprint. Therefore, the Lycra company has offered a unique solution by collecting the pre-consumer LYCRA® fiber waste at their manufacturing sites and blended it with virgin polymer at specific concentrations to create spandex (elastane) with the same performance as the original LYCRA® fiber.
The Lycra company, USA, has just released its new COOLMAX® and THERMOLITE® EcoMade fibers made from 100% recycled materials. The new range is the joint venture of The LYCRA Company and ITOCHU Corporation. The ITOCHU Corporation is a general trading company with strength in consumer-related sectors, including the textile business. While the LYCRA Company is a global leader in fiber and textile solutions for the apparel industry.
Pakistan is also a big consumer of Lycra yarns for making stretchable garments. Switching to the new innovative and environmentally friendly product with no compromise on the performance could be of massive importance for compliance in the textile industry, known to be a significant pollution-causing source.
Integrating textile waste technology with COOLMAX® and THERMOLITE® fibers provides consumers with the performance attributes they seek while making these industry-leading fibers in a new and responsible way. A unique depolymerization and refining process is used to convert textile waste, which consists of scraps from garment manufacturers, into fibers with properties comparable to virgin polyester. The new fibers are available in filament and staple forms, suitable for standard textile processes and insulations batting uses.
This is the first of several innovations that The LYCRA Company is working on in textile and garment recycling. Laying the groundwork for a more circular future is one of the critical objectives of The LYCRA Company's Planet Agenda Sustainability platform.
The LYCRA® brand logo is viewed worldwide as a symbol of quality assurance by consumers. Promote your use of LYCRA® fiber with free printed or virtual hangtags provided by The LYCRA Company. Swing tags are a simple and effective way to explain LYCRA® fiber's performance benefits to drive garment sales.
The company also offers to complete Trademark Licensing Agreement to print your own co-branded POS materials. Whichever option you choose, we make it easy to leverage the LYCRA® brand's 87% global consumer awareness to trigger the purchase decision in stores or online. No other spandex manufacturer provides this level of marketing support to its customers.
KARL MAYER has further extended its range of double needle bar raschel machines. The main highlight of the extension is RD 7 with a new knock-over comb bar distance (from 2 to 6 mm). The RD7 models can produce spacer fabrics in tried-and-tested thicknesses, but new working widths are now being launched on the market: the RD 7/2-12 EN and RD 6/1-12 EN are available now in a working width of 190. The seven-bar machine was previously available in working widths of 77 and 138, while the six-bar equivalent was available as a 138 variant. By extending the working widths, the innovative textile machine manufacturer primarily supports its customers in the mattress sector. They can now produce not just more, but also more flexibly: two panels can now be made simultaneously next to each other instead of singularly, or three fabric lines instead of two, for example. The market has well-received this greater production scope. Several customers in Asia are already working with the 190 machines and are extremely satisfied with the performance.
Aksa Akrilik has developed Everfresh, an antimicrobial fiber that has been tested and proven to eliminate coronavirus on textiles by 97.48% within 30 minutes. Aksa Akrilik is a leading acrylic fiber producer Aksa Akrilik, headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey.
Unlike spray or coating products, the antimicrobial effect is due to an embedded zinc compound in the fiber, and it maintains its function after repeated washing. The Everfresh fabrics have been introduced to the market after four years of R&D work. Everfresh is suitable for a wide range of products, including masks, denim, active clothing, socks, carpets, and bedding. It is likely to be useful in crowded areas such as hotels, mosques, and dormitories. The need for social hygiene is at the highest level, especially in
carpets, because it also prevents the formation of bacteria, fungi, and mold. The active substance that gives Everfresh a strong antibacterial effect is included in the fiber, so it is not a finishing process. Thanks to this feature, which is not added to the product with a chemical process afterwards, Everfresh is distinguished from products with a finish process that emit heavy metals. Thanks to this prominent feature of Everfresh, it has been proven by tests that it does not harm your skin and does not release heavy metals during and after use. The products produced with Everfresh, which has a strong content, offer endless washing resistance and thus, it does not lose its strong antibacterial structure even after dozens of washing times, it remains like the first day.
According to Capgemini, sustainability has become a strategic priority for the automotive industry, with automotive organizations increasingly using sustainable materials and 62% claiming to have a comprehensive sustainability strategy. Reusing nylon to make Econyl reduces the global warming impact of nylon by 80% compared with the material produced from oil. Further, the material can be continuously recycled without loss of quality in the finished product.
Econyl nylon is now one of the most sought-after materials used by more than 1,000 brands, including Adidas, Breitling, Stella McCartney, Prada, and Gucci. Once the products made from Econyl yarn reach the end of their useful life, they can also be recycled once again and made into other new products.
BMW Group has used the Econyl yarn to make its floor and floor mats for the BMW i3, BMW iX, and other models since 2016. Econyl yarn is produced from recycled fishing nets and other nylon waste. Compared to petroleum-based nylons, manufacturing Econyl yarn from recycled materials makes 90% less global warming potential.
Econyl regenerated nylon is a product introduced in 2011 by Aquafil. It is made entirely from the ocean and landfill waste, such as industrial plastic, fabric scraps from clothing manufacturing companies, old carpets, and "ghost nets" (lost or abandoned fishing nets).
Textile waste into sports shoes and apparel
The recycling of textile waste into another textile product is now the thing of the past. Asics has launched a new sustainable sports shoe collection made of around 5 tons of recycled textile waste. The collection is also comprised of apparel made from textile waste. The Earth Day Pack will be on sale globally in-store from 16th April 2021.
The new Earth Day Pack is the ASICS brand’s most planet-friendly cross-category collection to date, having been created using a circular manufacturing approach that saw around 5 tons of textile waste, the equivalent of 25,000 t-shirts, recycled into new shoes. Yet, the Earth Day Pack’s smaller environmental footprint is not just down to the materials it is made from but a lot more than that. The sock lining of the boots is developed using a resource-saving technology called solution dyeing that reduces CO2 emissions by around 45% and cuts water use by approximately 33% compared to conventional dyeing processes.
Asics is a Japanese multinational corporation that produces sports equipment designed for a wide range of sports. In recent years their running shoes have often been ranked among the top performance footwear in the market. Products manufactured and marketed by Asics include footwear (sneakers, sandals), clothing (t-shirts, jackets, hoodies, compression garments, pants, shorts, socks), and accessories (bags, backpacks, caps).
Comfortemp Flexx: World’s first adaptive insulation having extremely air-permeability and breathability
Freudenberg Performance Materials Apparel introduced Comfortemp Flexx having awesome air-permeability and breathability, at the digital Performance Days exhibition from May 17 to 21, 2021. Comfortemp Flexx is meanwhile the first adaptive insulation comprising a warming and breathable padding with elastic reinforcement elements made from 97% recycled polyester.
The comfortemp flex is ideal for use in outdoor sportswear designed for cycling, running, and skiing. When the wearer moves, the padding expands, and when movement stops, the padding contracts again. The high-performance thermal insulation even keeps the wearer warm when wet and has a stretch content of up to 20%. The processing of the padding using reinforcement threads also prevents fiber migration through the outer fabric. Comfortemp Flexx complies with the Oeko-Tex standard and is supplied by the meter, reducing production time and processing costs for garment manufacturers.
The high-performance, washable and fast-drying padding is very light and offers excellent insulation values and optimal breathability. This is because the fiber balls that give the product its name create a particular pore structure. Other plus points include very high-wearing comfort and an incredibly soft and fluffy feel.
Jeanologia’s e-flow technology boosting sustainability in denim
Jeanologia’s e-Flow technology can accomplish many finishing effects with the highest quality, minimal water, and zero discharge. The technology uses micronization and nebulization instead of traditional abrasion processes for denim fabrics. The performance is even better to apply different finishes using nano-bubbles than water.
Jeanologia is an innovative and multicultural company with over 20 years of experience developing sustainable and eco-efficient technologies for the finishing industry. The company was founded in 1994 by Jose Vidal and his nephew Enrique Silla, with innovation and human values as the primary columns. With a background in denim finishing consultancy, Jeanologia soon became a technology provider of sustainable textile solutions.
Specialty chemicals producer Devan is also working with Jeanologia to reduce the water consumption required to apply Bi-Ome antimicrobial and R-Vital skincare ranges. The e-Flow is the perfect fit for industrial washing machines, allowing mills and brands to use Devan’s technologies more sustainably than traditional application equipment, even for smaller production runs and directly onto garments. This reduces the cost of application, saves the amount of water used, and ensures that the correct amount of chemistry stays in the garment and not in the water.
The e-Flow technology is the sustainable textile solution to transfer chemicals onto garments made of any fabric. Conventionally water is used as the carrier, and, at the end of every cycle, that water, still brimming with chemical products, goes to waste.
Jeanologia has created an e-Flow Lab for testing and sampling. It functions just like the production machines but at a smaller scale and will enable you to experiment with all the finishing effects that can be accomplished in industrial conditions. A perfect reproducibility from lab to bulk is granted since the recipes can be transferred from one to the other, ensuring the same results. On the other hand, the e-Flow Mix allows you to expand the possibilities of your processes by having two separate tanks that can be filled with different chemicals that could never feature together in the same wash by conventional techniques, releasing them at the precise moment to get the perfect interaction and grant the desired results. This way, you will save both resources and time.
Multifunctional sustainable knitted undergarments
Confitex has introduced a multifunctional knitted undergarment that offers unique benefits to its consumers. An eco-friendly absorbent textile invented by Confitex gives people worldwide a discreet, effective, and sustainable alternative to single-use pads and liners. The revolutionary new material is unique in that it's fully waterproof without using a layer of PU plastic. The layer of PU usually used in waterproof fabrics isn't fit for purpose – not only because it takes centuries to break down in landfill, but because it can't be stitched, heat-sealed, molded, or tumble-dried is not breathable when worn. It was invented by Confitex founder Frantisek Riha-Scott, a designer with a passion for endurance ski racing.
The absorbent and leakproof textile's multi-layered construction consists of a soft, fast-wicking inner layer of hypoallergenic fabric, designed to quickly draw moisture away from the body, a second warp layer, to provide ultra-quick absorption for more significant leaks. This moisture-retaining inner layer soaks up liquid and holds it tight, even under pressure and a breathable leakproof outer layer.
The Confitex textile also performs effectively when used in period underwear – providing a more eco-friendly alternative to single-use pads, tampons, and other brands of period pants, which almost invariably contain a layer of PU plastic. Confitex products don't include that PU plastic layer; they can safely be tumble dried without warping, scrunching, or losing their leakproof performance. International standards laboratory UL has independently tested the products.
ProWin is the latest development from Andritz for ensuring web evenness. As nonwoven webs are laid and processed, the fibers tend to move to the edges of transportation belts and individual machines, leading to the so-called ‘smile’ effect and a lack of homogeneity in the web if not constantly corrected.
Andritz has developed ProWin that maximizes the evenness of nonwoven fabrics across the entire line. The new technology allows nonwoven producers to achieve optimum weight profiling at the crosslapper delivery and increase their running speed by up to 15%. The new unit complements the company’s existing ProDyn and ProWid profiling units.
In the spunlacing process, better product quality can be obtained by ensuring that the different equipment units in the production line are consistent. The Andritz TT card, Jetlace hydroentanglement unit, and neXdry through-air dryer combine to obtain premium visual quality and characteristics on the web. This set-up is designed to produce an even web with significant bulkiness and an excellent MD: CD ratio for an equivalent amount of fibers without impacting the production capacity.
Andritz also offers a range of service apps for maximizing production. The Metris Cost Management app is used to track raw material consumption, allowing in-depth diagnosis of raw material losses and savings achieved in the different process areas.
ProWin: Your partner in Maximising the evenness of nonwoven fabrics
ProWeave: A new jacquard weaving technology
ProWeave is a patented new jacquard weaving technology developed by Texon at its plant in Prato, Italy. With the latest technology of ProWeave, it possible to seamlessly integrate functional and design weaves into a single sheet of material. It can help manufacturers pinpoint the physical characteristics, active zones, and visual patterns they want to achieve performance fabric.
ProWeave can help different brands to bring new creative concepts to life. It is easy to create different elasticity, tenacity, and abrasion zones within the same weave, diverse yarn thicknesses, weights, and fabrics. ProWeave fabrics are likely to prove popular in the fast-paced sports and outdoor sectors where woven footwear increases. The demand for innovative materials for garment manufacturing is continuous. The primary areas where ProWeave could be used include Luxury and branded footwear, Clothing, and Industrial Textiles.
ProWeave is designed to support the industry’s sustainability drive. Using a single efficient process to create woven uppers with localized features means less energy consumption for manufacturers. We offer advice on using compatible fibers and recycled yarns to build recyclable structures for circular projects. All offcuts are suitable for recycling. Texon Group Zero Waste Programme supports ProWeave. ProWeave enables maximum safety, quality, and performance with materials designed to provide the most advanced individual protection. Breathable, waterproof, lightweight – also strong, durable, and comfortable. Designers can bring together in a single product everything needed to ensure more significant support and safety in every work activity.
The innovative material allows for multidirectional zonal stretching and personalized yarns to each designer’s specifications. The properties of ProWeave exceed those of dobby technical fabrics and offer greater design freedom within a single production process. ProWeave also provides better structural support – stronger than knitted uppers.
A novel innovation allowing designers to imagine, design, and develop zones with technical and aesthetic functionalities: 1) Patented zonal single or multidirectional stretch, zonal functionality, and design patterns per upper. 2) Specialty yarns, coated, monofilament, metallic, aramid, and recycled. 3) A wide array of designs, thickness, color variations, and gradients, including ribs, waffle, 3D effects, mesh, transparency, and stretch. 4) Localised introduction of yarn with recuts replaces the need for reinforcements.
Noble Biomaterials, based in Scranton, Philadelphia, is launching Ionic+ Durable as a new silver-based fabric finish that is an effective way to deliver antimicrobial benefits. Noble Biomaterials USA has announced the release of the new durable antimicrobial finish for textiles. The trade name of the new finish is Ionic+ Durable. The finish is a silver-based fabric finish that is a practical, reasonable way to deliver antimicrobial benefits. It is applied at the finishing stage, allowing for maximum design freedom and production flexibility.
Noble Biomaterial is a global leader in antimicrobial and conductivity finishing solutions for various soft surfaces. The company produces advanced material technologies designed for performance apparel, healthcare, industrial, and emerging wearable technology markets. The novel solution meets or exceeds the state-of-market performance. While the application has achieved a 50x wash durability rating, the self-cleaning, odor-eliminating ionized silver will ensure fewer washes to conserve water, energy, and natural resources and reduce fabric degradation time.
The self-cleaning, odor-eliminating ionized silver is designed to ensure fewer washes to help conserve water, energy, and natural resources, as well as reduce fabric degradation over time. The new solution is the result of years of innovation and research into the benefits of ionic silver, according to Joel Furey, co-founder and chief commercial officer.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), scientists have developed smart clothes for motion detection to be used in athletic training, rehabilitation, and health monitoring. Among the many benefits promised by the smart fabric, the revolution has been the "consumerization of health care." Wearables enable the remote monitoring of a wide range of chronic medical conditions, from diabetes, high blood pressure, and congestive heart failure (CHF) to symptoms of disease, discomfort, and stress.
In 2017, smart fabrics in the medical and health segment had a market size of $97 million, according to IFAI research. The MIT team has developed a range of prototypes, from socks and gloves to a full vest. The team's "tactile electronics" use a mix of more typical textile fibers alongside a small amount of custom-made functional fibers that sense pressure from the person wearing the garment.
The team's clothes have a range of capabilities. Their socks predict motion by looking at how different sequences of tactile footprints correlate to varying poses as the user transitions from one pose to another. The full-sized vest can also detect the wearers' pose, activity, and texture of the contacted surfaces. The scientists feel a coach can use the sensor to analyze people's postures and improve improvement. An experienced athlete could also use it to record their posture so that beginners can learn from them. They even imagine that robots could be trained to know how to do different activities using data from the wearables in the long term.
Nanofront ultra-fine polyester from recycled materials is the innovation of Teijin Frontier, Japan. These are the World’s first highly absorbent nanostructures made from recycled polyesters. The created capillarity inside the structure enhances water absorption and diffusion. Its grip properties result from nano-sized irregularities on the fiber surface, which creates friction. In filter materials, its fine pores and high void structure also improve its functionalities.
Key to the development is new polymer-control and spinning techniques for its proprietary ‘sea-island composite-fiber processing technology”. The technology distributes two types of polymers into the fiber’s sea and island parts. It then dissolves and removes the sea part using an alkaline treatment, extracting only the island part as raw yarn.
Teijin Frontier believes this technology will enable it to produce all of its polyester fiber products with recycled raw materials in the future, including sportswear, functional clothing, industrial uniforms, and more. It forecasts sales from the development of 300 million yen in 2021 and 800 million yen in 2025. The demand for recycling raw materials is rapidly increasing. Still, it has been challenging to mass-produce ultra-fine fibers from recycled polyester due to the need for high-level polymer control and spinning.
Teijin Limited is a Japanese chemical, pharmaceutical, and information technology company. Its primary operations are high-performance fibers such as aramid, carbon fibers & composites, healthcare, films, resin & plastic processing, polyester fibers, product converting, and IT products. The company is listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 stock index.
ITMA ASIA + CITME International Textile Machinery exhibition June 12-16, 2021 Venue: NECC, Shanghai, China.
GTex International B2B textile machinery, chemical and accessories brand expo September 04-06, 2021 Venue: Expo Centre Karachi, Pakistan.
Index World’s leading non-woven exhibition September 07-10, 2021 Venue: Geneva, Switzerland.
Inspiring Change Conference An international conference on textiles-Innovations and sustainable solutions September 13-14, 2021 Venue: Lahore, Pakistan.
IGATEX Pakistan The 13th International Garment, Textile Machinery exhibition September 15-18, 2021 Venue: Expo Centre Lahore, Pakistan. FESPA Global Print Expo Leading trade fair for screen, digital and textile printing October 12-15, 2021 Venue: Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Heimtextil 2022 Int'l event for interior textiles, interior design and interior trends January 11-14, 2022 Venue: Messe Frankfurt, Germany.
ITM 2022 International Textile Machinery exhibition June 14-18, 2022 Venue: TÜYAP Center, Istanbul, Turkey.
Techtextil 2022 Int'l event for technical textiles and nonwovens June 21-24, 2022 Venue: Messe Frankfurt, Germany.
ITMA 2023 World’s leading textile and garment technology platform June 08-14, 2023 Venue: Fiera Milano, Milan, Italy.
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