The SpinDye Mission – Abandoning the harmful practice of water dyeing

Clariant collaborates with We aRe SpinDye®. The result: a clean, traceable coloring method for textiles with unparalleled performance and long-term awesomeness.

Water pollution and the textile industry

The global textile industry is accountable for massive water consumption and pollution. Research cited by The World Bank indicates that nearly 20% of all freshwater pollution worldwide is related to one single step in textile production – the dyeing process.And not to mention the waste of fresh water. Thirty liters of water are needed to dye a single T-shirt.

Around 90% of garments sold in Europe are produced in developing and emerging countries, where water is usually a scarce resource and where hardly any restrictions on the use of dyes exist. The polluted water often flows unfiltered into the wastewater, which often ends up in rivers, ground water and the sea.

As traditional dyeing methods do not necessarily take account of the cost of regenerating waste waters, sustainable raw materials and processes tend to be more expensive. Consequently, traditional methods currently still dominate the fashion and life style industry.

Fueled by climate change, it is only a matter of time before more rivers run dry, ground water levels plummet and additional chemicals start polluting our drinking water – impacting us all.

Clariant’s color masterbatch for coloring polyester (© Clariant)

SpinDye® – a clean, traceable coloring method for polyester textiles

Compared to conventional dyeing processes, the SpinDye®-coloring allows the color to be introduced earlier in the manufacturing sequence of polyester fabrics and textiles: The pigment is added with Clariant Masterbatches to the spinning solution before extrusion.

This way, it becomes a homogenous part of the fiber and environmentally hazardous process step of dyeing is completely eliminated from the production process. Clariant has a long-standing experience in enabling application markets to use the spin dying process.

The color of desire is mixed, highly condensed and becomes the Masterbatch (produced by Clariant). In the SpinDye®-process, the color masterbatch is mixed with polyester pellets, melted and extruded to fibers. The homogeneously colored fibers are spun to yarn and finally woven or knitted into fabrics. (© We aRe SpinDye)

The results are impressive: The product keeps its exact color, year after year, regardless of wear, washing or sun.

But even more important, the environmental savings are outstanding: 75% less water, 90 % less chemicals and 30 – 40 % less energy are consumed during the entire coloring process. The CO2 imprint can be lowered by 30%.

The precise SpinDye®-color system leads to fewer errors, relying on the color matching capacities of Clariant Masterbatches. This minimizes the risk of recalls and cancelled orders which in turn reduces the amount of waste, water, chemical and energy use.

Circular fashion with the SpinDye®-coloring method (© We aRe SpinDye) 

Because of the excellent color fastness delivered through Clariant Masterbatches, the “We aRe SpinDye®” fabrics can also be worn longer than traditional polyester textiles.

The SpinDye®-coloring method focuses on working with recycled polyester, making an additional move towards circular fashion.

Overall, the finished product is less harmful to our environment and has a better quality – a trailblazing and sustainable technique, hopefully soon to be the new industry standard.

Who’s it for?

The technology of Spin Dyeing as such exists since some years and is used for certain textile applications, but not in fashion and apparel.

We aRe SpinDye® operates production for customers from fashion and apparel industry around the globe, from raw-material to finished fabrics.

In order to differentiate, We aRe SpinDye® offers ingredient branding which drives consumer awareness for sustainability by making environmental benefits visible and tangible in a label. Consequently, their supply chains are fully traceable. This transparency is expected to drive consumer awareness and demand for cleaner products.

© We aRe SpinDye

This, in turn would create new incentives for the sector to switch to spin dyeing. Several players in the fashion, apparel and outdoor world like Mammut, Bergans of Norway, Fjällräven, Quiksilver, Peak Performance and Odd Molly are already using SpinDye®-colored fabrics. 

Meet the company behind the solution

Clariant has a long-standing commitment to sustainability. In 2015 its business unit Masterbatches entered a collaboration with WRSD, reflecting the ongoing shift of sustainability to the very core of its innovation activities.

Clariant has deep experience in color matching using non-hazardous specialty chemical ingredients and offers a strong sustainable product portfolio with products like the Masterbatches that are used in the SpinDye process. The company has a global manufacturing footprint and network. In alignment with the overall commitment to sustainability and as an enabler of a circular plastics economy, Clariant also brings in significant expertise in coloring recycled plastic. Clariant has worked with other sectors in spin dying and these contacts and experience played a key role to help We aRe SpinDye to build and implement its supply chain.

Francis Baud (Clariant head of Global Marketing Fibers), Andreas Andrén (COO WRSD) and Martin Berling (Co-Founder WRSD) (© Clariant)

The Swedish fashion tech Company We aRe SpinDye was founded in 2015 by Martin Berling. Since then, they have adapted the spin dyeing process to the requirements of the fashion and apparel sector, developed and built up the brand and had measurements made of the ecological footprint. 

Collaborations for sustainability like the one shown here are indispensable if we are to get climate change under control. Furthermore, they are and will be an important innovation and competitiveness factor. Clariant and We aRe SpinDye are showcasing together how this can be done and therefore play a pioneering role for other Swiss, European and global companies.

Nominierte Lösung: Beitrag von Clariant an We aRe SpinDye®

Firma: Clariant & WRSD

Weitere Informationen: www.clariant.com und www.spindye.com