The textile industry is considered the biggest consumer of water among all industrial sectors and also one of the worst polluters. Among the various processing sectors of the textile industry, the dyeing and printing sector is the largest consumer of water and also the highest polluter.
It is estimated that in order to produce colored cotton t-shirts using reactive dyes and weighing about one kilogram in all, consumes water totaling to a staggering 2,000 litres right from farming to the final garment, which clearly reveals that cotton textile processing is a drain on the environment in terms of water, energy and pollution.
A recent report by the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE) found that apparel brands which swear on maintaining sustainable standards, keep a check only at the last stage of manufacturing of the textile value production chain – the apparel stitching stage, while they turn a blind eye to the pollution created and water consumed by the fabric dyeing and printing sector.
In the wake of a rise in awareness amongst consumers in choosing sustainable textiles and garments, many textile machinery and dyes and chemical producers’ like Clariant, Huntsman, Fongs, Dystar, Wacker etc, are rising to the occasion and introducing new technologies which can help curb water usage as well as control pollution during the dyeing and printing process.
Clariant, the Switzerland based textile dyes and chemicals major is one of those companies which is in the forefront of introducing new technologies to reduce water consumption and recently launched a new sustainability service: ‘One Way’.
Based on stringent standards and a systematic approach with a unique set of sophisticated tools, ‘One Way’, will allow customers to make an informed decision by delivering the overall cost and performance profile – including dyes, chemicals, water, energy and time – and the impact of each textile solution against key ecological performance indicators, such as COD, BOD, CO2 emissions, energy and water.
Clariant also recently introduced ‘Advanced Denim’ - a technology that simplifies the finishing and dyeing of denim, which when employed, Denim-Ox and Pad/Sizing Ox, water consumption can be reduced by as much as 92%, while 63% of the usual cotton waste is avoided and around 30% can be saved in energy costs too compared to conventional denim indigo denim dyeing process.
According to Clariant, if the technology was to be adopted in the production of 25 percent of jeans worldwide, it would save 62 million m3 of water/year, the equivalent of the water consumption of 1.7 million people.
Dyeing and printing textile machine producer and Hong Kong based – Fongs Industries Co Ltd too has developed a new technology which works on the principle of ensuring a low liquor ratio (LR) to reduce water consumption.
Fong's latest TEC high temperature dyeing machine by applying a low liquor ration reduces the whole processing time for cotton dyeing to about 248 minutes, minimizes emissions, water consumption for reactive dyeing cotton fabric is lowerd to 27.5, 37.8 & 47.6 L/Kg for light, medium & dark shade respectively. A multi-function controller enbales to generate utility consumption report of water, electricity and steam of each batch and actual consumption values can be also been seen if machine is equipped with metering devices.
Dystar, again a global dyes producer has introduced two ranges of dyes which help in saving water, energy and steam usage and also reduces the chemical and biochemical demands on wastewater effluents.
The range of Remazol Ultra RGB and Levafix CA dyes helps in lowering electricity consumption by 20 percent, steam, water and time is reduced by 30 percent, each. Remazol Ultra RGB also helps in decreasing chemical by an overall 45 percent and biochemical demands by 40 percent on wastewater effluents, when compared with traditional reactive dyes.
Wacker Chemie AG also a chemicals producer from Germany uses silicones to reduce waste and energy consumption in the production of synthetic fibers on the spinneret or the winding up of fibers and yarns. The same is true for silicone thread lubricants, which lower the friction of sewing threads.
Wacker’s silicone emulsions can cope with tightened conditions arising from pretreatment using a reduced amount of water. These emulsions withstand a higher residual alkalinity of the pretreated fabric and partially of the dyed textile before the finishing process starts. Non-foaming wetting agents used in washing and dyeing processes improve the efficiency and the yield of the dyeing process.
By doing so, they reduce the amount of water used in the course of processing textiles. Wacker’s Wetsoft and Powersoft silicone softeners have a high solids content and are therefore very efficient. Finish and Powersoft silicone softeners last up to 50 home washing cycles. This helps cut down on the amount of persistent cationic fabric conditioners in the waste water.
Huntsman Textile Effects too not to be left behind has an array of technlogies which help in conserving and reducing water, energy and waste. Avitera SE, a revolutionary new tri-reactive dye range delivers water and energy reductions of up to 50 percent, Gentle Power Bleach saves energy consumption by 40 percent and reduces water usage by at least 30 percent, Novacron is a low-cost fluortriazine based dye which offers between 28-38 percent savings in water, energy and operating costs.
Huntsman also provides a ‘Productivity Improvement Program” (PIP) – auditing and optimization of processes and productivity leading to savings of utilities (water and energy) while helping businesses to act responsibly towards the environment and adhering to the international standards of environment protection.
