Fashion for Good, a global initiative trying to make fashion more sustainable, has welcomed four new participants to its Scaling Programme designed to fast-track the latest technologies for adoption across the apparel supply chain.
Launched in March 2017 by C&A Foundation, the corporate foundation affiliated with global retailer C&A, Fashion for Good is an industry-wide call for collaboration to help brands, retailers and manufacturers find more innovative and sustainable ways of producing fashion.
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The four companies – Mango Materials, Algalife, Nature Coatings and Sonovia (previously Nano Textile) – previously participated in the Fashion for Good-Plug and Play Accelerator Programme. Joining the Scaling Programme gives them the opportunity to run pilots with Fashion for Good’s corporate partners and expand their operations.
Their addition – in particular, Algalife, Nature Coatings and Sonovia, the first dye and finishing innovators in the programme – not only strengthens Fashion for Good’s portfolio of innovators but also “occupy crucial positions in the industry value chain,” the global initiative says.
Mango Materials produces biodegradable bio-polyester that can be used as a sustainable alternative to polyester presently utilised in the fashion industry. Microfibres produced from the bio-polyester can biodegrade in many environments, including landfills, wastewater treatment plants and the oceans, helping to prevent microfibre pollution and contributing to a closed-loop bio-economy for the fashion industry. The circular technology benefits the environment throughout its entire process from renewable feedstock sourcing to carbon recycling at the end of a product’s life.
Sonovia, previously Nano Textile, offers a sustainable alternative to binder chemicals normally used to attach finishes onto a fabric. Its technology embeds fabric finishes directly into fabric using a process called Cavitation and can apply to a range of products such as antibacterial and anti-odour finishes or water repellence. The elimination of binders reduces the amount of chemicals used in the finishing process, while the “very strong” impregnation protects the end-user and the environment from the leaking of hazardous chemicals. The wet process method has the capacity to revolutionise the wet textile processing industry and transform the textile industry into a vastly more sustainable and greener practice.
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By GlobalDataNature Coatings, meanwhile, transforms agricultural waste into high performing black pigments for printing, coatings, paint, ink and dope dyeing. The pigments are a bio-based replacement for the millions of tons of petroleum-based carbon black pigment produced globally each year and therefore have the potential to prevent millions of tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. The pigments are higher performing than petroleum carbon black and can be used at the mill with existing equipment, making adoption easy and efficient, the firm says.
Finally, Algalife’s bio-based innovation aims to turn the textile industry’s environmental problems into positive, scalable solutions by unlocking the power of algae and creating dyes and fibres from microalgae. These bio-based dyes and fibres have a better environmental footprint than traditional manufacturing and dyeing processes, the company says.
The new signings mean Fashion for Good now counts a total of 18 innovators that have participated in its Scaling Programme since its inception two years ago.
