Sports apparel brand Nike Inc., Beaverton, Ore., has opened a water-free dyeing facility at its Taiwan-based contract manufacturer Far Eastern New Century Corp. (FENC). The new facility utilizes the Netherlands-based DyeCoo Textile Systems BV's recycled supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) dyeing technology to dye polyester fabrics. The recycled CO2 replaces water and additional process chemicals in the dyeing process, and also uses less energy than water-based dyeing technologies. The colors achieved using the process, called "ColorDry" by Nike, are reportedly more saturated and consistent than colors achieved using traditional dyeing processes.
Nike has held a stake in DyeCoo since early 2012, and first used the DyeCoo technology to dye fabrics used for the uniforms of Kenya's 2012 Olympic marathon team. Since then, Nike has worked to see the technology scaled up to apply across the entire sports apparel industry.
"We see sustainability and business growth as complementary and our strategy is to prioritize relationships with factory groups that demonstrate a desire to invest in sustainable practices and technologies," said Eric Sprunk, COO, Nike Inc. "Our collaboration with Far Eastern and DyeCoo, to develop and scale the ColorDry process, is an important milestone on our path towards manufacturing innovation."
"Compared to traditional dyeing methods, the ColorDry process reduces dyeing time by 40 percent, energy use by around 60 percent and the required factory footprint by a quarter," said Kuenlin Ho, executive vice president, FENC. "It's also the most saturated, intense and consistent color we've seen," he added.
