Green Fabrics

Posted - November 1, 2008

Textiles: Finding different ways to go green

By Gloria Neumann – as printed in O.W.N. Fall 2008

Green, natural, organic, eco-friendly and sustainable have been the buzz words across all sectors and industries over the past years. Textiles is no exception. About 85% of retail sales of organic fiber products are for apparel according to the Organic Trade Association and Organic Exchange. But sales in organic and eco-friendly home textiles have seen double digit growth, a 40% between 2007 and 2010 in the U.S. alone, reports market research publisher, SBI in “The U.S. Market for Organic and Eco-Friendly Home Textiles” .

There is a lot out there that people are saying is “green”, but it is still confusing to determine what is green and what is not, especially in home furnishings where high performance textiles prevail. For instance, Advansa, the largest European producer of polyester has launched this Summer a new range of ‘Biophyl’ branded fibres and yarns made with DuPont’s Bio-PDO polymer derived from corn sucrose. The Bio-PDO is a renewable resource replacing the petrol based glycol, reducing dependability on petro-chemicals, the common raw material for Polyester.

Could this new product be considered green?  Yes, says Advansa, using yarns made with these polymers contributes to saving energy and reducing greenhouse gases. “Compared to fossil fuel-based nylon, producing this polymer consumes 30-40 % less energy and results in 50-60% less greenhouse gas emissions”.

And with increasing demand  for eco-friendly fabrics and furnishings, Crypton Inc., world leading producer of water, stain and bacteria resistant performance fabrics, introduced InCase. It is a certified green fabric protectant designed for hospitality, healthcare, contract and residential interiors.

Again, would this be considered a green product? Using what the company calls its Evergreen Technology, Cripton claims to be eco-friendly because it reduces the levels of fluorine in the formulas used to develop this new line. Crypton states that InCase is the first fabric protection with no detectable perfluorooctanic acid, a common byproduct found in stain resistant fabrics.

Some expect green textile products to come only from natural fibers such as organic cotton, wool, silk and hemp with environmentally approved dyes. Others have looked for the sustainability of new fabrics and to develop new materials at the laboratory, some of them recycled or reconstructed from existing materials as a way to reduce landfills space.

The textile industry pollutes heavily. And in spite of the growing green and sustainable movements, synthetic textiles is the fastest growing fibre category. Synthetic fabrics derived from petrochemicals offer high performance for some applications that are difficult to replicate with natural fibers. It will take time. The solution: new eco-friendly technologies and working methods.

Organic farming and food processing and the natural cosmetics industry have been established developing and applying eco-friendly working methods. The textile industry is starting to as well. Manufacturers like Advansa and Cripton are looking at the way they run and the carbon footprint they make. Initiatives such as Oeko-Tex Standard, EU Ecolabel, MBDC and SCS are offering textile companies programs towards more sustainable production .

Meanwhile, the International Working Group on Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) has developed standards to certify organic textile operations from harvesting raw materials to environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing and labelling products, such as fiber, yarns, fabrics and clothing. The logo for GOTS was unveiled at the 16th Organic World Conference sponsored by IFOAM in Modena, Italy in June 2008.

The textile industry needs to turn three hundred sixty degrees. Some are finding ways to reduce or eliminate toxic chemicals. At last, even high-performane textiles are going green.