AMSTERDAM – Fashion for Good launches the Black Pigment Pilot project together with partners Bestseller, Birla Cellulose, Kering and PVH Corp., in collaboration with Paradise Textiles, and innovators Graviky Labs, Living Ink and Nature Coatings. The pilot aims to validate and scale black pigments derived from waste feedstocks such as industrial carbon, algae and wood that could replace synthetic dyes offering a more sustainable means of textile production with a lower carbon impact.
The colour black has a long history in the fashion industry and is one of the most commonly used colours to dye apparel. Modern synthetic dyes are often derived from petro-chemical compounds, which are non renewable and contribute to water pollution when not treated correctly.
The project aims to develop and scale black pigment for the dope dying of man-made cellulosics (MMCs) fibres and recycled polyester (rPet) yarns, evaluating the technologies of the participating innovators; Graviky Labs, Nature Coatings and Living Ink, who produce black pigment from industrial carbon emissions, wood waste and waste algae, respectively.
“Collaboration is key to making a step change in replacing the abundantly used harmful dyes in the industry, of which black is dominating. We are very excited to be able to support this first-of-its-kind collaborative pilot aiming to validate three technologies that will enable the industry to switch to more sustainable (black) dye chemistry,”says, Katrin Ley, Managing Director at Fashion for Good
The first phase of the pilot will run until mid 2022, with Birla Cellulose and Paradise Textiles producing the first dope dyed MMCs fibres and rPet yarns respectively, using the black pigments. Participating Fashion for Good partners will have the opportunity to evaluate the performance, colour fastness, wearability and impact of all solutions. Successful formulations will then go on to trial larger production runs with fabrics dyed using the innovations.
To assess the performance of dope dyeing with the innovative black pigment formulations, test variables such as affinity, colour and light fastness, and tensile strength of the fibres and yarns, will be measured against dope dyeing with the standard synthetic dyes currently used in the industry. Successes in the initial trials, will be developed towards scaling the project beyond fibre and yarn dyeing to textile production with the long-term goal to integrate these technologies at commercial scale in the value chain.
“Nature Coatings’ pigment, made from wood waste, is a direct replacement of petroleum carbon black pigments, says Jane Palmer, CEO, Nature Coatings. We offer 100% bio-based pigments and dispersions. The industry requires a huge shift from currently used synthetic pigments for printing and dyeing textiles. We’re glad to be participating in this project that’s moving the needle in the right direction.”
