27 Feb 2012
Clariant awarded the EU Ecolabel for its Advanced Denim Illustration Collection
- Award recognizes Clariant's ground-breaking innovation in sustainable denim production for textile industry
- Added-value Advanced Denim process supports industry's global fashion trends and efficiency goals
Singapore, February 27, 2012 - Clariant has become one of the first companies to be awarded an EU Ecolabel* for denim, in recognition of the sustainability benefits of its Advanced Denim process.
The EU Ecolabel, also known as the “EU Flower label”, is considered one of the highest certifications, acknowledging that all stages in the production of a finished article have met the EU’s stringent environmental protocols.
Clariant, global textiles solutions provider, developed its own denim prototype clothing collection, working with a textile mill and laundry, in order to demonstrate that achieving Ecolabel certification for denim is a practical reality with its Pad/Sizing-Ox dyeing technology. Problems associated with traditional denim fabric production have contributed towards making Ecolabel certification for denim difficult to attain.
Clariant’s new Advanced Denim technology has simplified the finishing and dyeing of a fabric that accounts for some 14% of global cotton production.
In the conventional denim indigo dyeing process, the fabric passes through a line of 10 to 14 vats, depending on the equipment used. Clariant’s Denim-Ox process brings this sequence down to 4, and its Pad/Sizing Ox reduces this further to just 1 vat. Both methods utilize the company’s Diresul® RDT dyes, which generate a broader spectrum of shades than usually associated with conventional indigo dyes but without its environmental problems.
An environmental revolution is possible – with Clariant’s Advanced Denim
It has been calculated that if Clariant’s new Advanced Denim technology were adopted in the production of 25% of jeans worldwide, it would save 62 million m3 of water/year, the equivalent of the water consumption of 1.7 million people.
The new chemistry available would also eliminate the need to treat 8.3 million m3/year of wastewater, 220 million kWh of power would be saved and the carbon footprint of the industry in CO2 emissions reduced accordingly.
“We needed to show our partners in the denim production chain that our new process could fundamentally improve their own environmental credentials and their ability to promote and market them,” says Miguel Sanchez, head of global PL dyes in the Textile Chemicals business unit of Clariant. “The EU Ecolabel endorsement illustrates that the Advanced Denim process is an essential element for those denim manufacturers who wish to benefit from the retail and consumer benefits that flow from Ecolabel status.”
* Certificate number: ES-CA/016/007
Reader enquiries
Clariant International Ltd
Rothausstrasse 61
4132 Muttenz 1
Switzerland
Notes for editors
Clariant is an internationally active specialty chemical company, based in Muttenz near Basel. The group owns over 100 companies worldwide and employed 22 149 employees on December 31, 2011. In the financial year 2011, Clariant produced a turnover of CHF 7.4 billion. Clariant is divided into eleven business units: Additives; Catalysis & Energy; Emulsions, Detergents & Intermediates; Functional Materials; Industrial & Consumer Specialties; Leather Services; Masterbatches; Oil & Mining Services; Paper Specialties; Pigments; Textile Chemicals.
Clariant focuses on creating value by investing in future profitable and sustainable growth, which is based on four strategic pillars: Improving profitability, innovation as well as research and development, dynamic growth in emerging markets, and optimizing the portfolio through complementary acquisitions or divestments.
Notes for editors
Key points in achieving Ecolabel certification for textiles include: limited use of substances harmful to the environment; limited substances harmful to health; reduced water and air pollution; textile shrink resistance during washing and drying; color resistance to perspiration, washing, wet and dry rubbing and light exposure.
It excludes mineral fibers, glass fibers, metal fibers, carbon fibers and other inorganic fibers; lead based pigments; heavy metals and formaldehyde; azo dyes; dyes classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic for reproduction; plasticizers or solvents; imposes limitations (of residues) of certain pesticides; limits the use of zinc and copper.
For more information about the EU Ecolabel:
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecolabel/about_ecolabel/what_is_ecolabel_en.htm
Diresul is a registered trademark of Clariant.
Related images
Clariant’s Advanced Denim Pad/Sizing-Ox process saves 92% water, 30% energy and reduces cotton waste by 87% in denim production but does not limit design effects.
(Photo: Clariant)
Editorial enquiries
Stefanie Nehlsen
Clariant International Ltd
stefanie.nehlsen@clariant.com
Josina van der Velden
EMG