ITMA is the world’s largest textile and garment machinery exhibition ,which is held every four years in a different country and has been always a focal point for a large number of highly qualified international visitors and top decision makers. Held in Milan this year after a 20 year gap, the show was welcomed not only by the city but by the industry as well.
In the last few years there has been an increased , sustained and market pushed focus on sustainable technologies which could help in saving of energy, chemicals, water and other resources. In this article, we bring out information on some of the companies who showcased their sustainable technologies and products.
Jeanologia , Spain
Jeanologia presented a complete combination of machines which can enable the jeans manufacturer, as the company claims, to have ZERO contamination. The process involves usage of different machineries from the company to eliminate different environment harming steps. It involves-
- Combination of three main technologies – laser, wet and dry ozone G2, e-Flow nano bubbles – to reduce use of water and chemicals by 90% and energy by 50%.
- Doing away with the usage of pumice stone , manual scraping and potassium permanganate by usage of advanced features of laser which can be attached to existing laser machines.
- The complete system to create a high level of eco-sustainability bringing ZERO contamination benefits to the producers.
The company calculates EIM – Environmental Impact Measure to arrive show how usage of different processes can make an impact on sustainable production.
Tonello , Italy : NoStone® And Water Brush
In a collaboration with Levi Strauss & Co. ,Tonello announced the latest award winning technology – the NoStone®. The new process is designed to overcome economic, mechanical and environmental limitations of existing stone-wash processes. The thrust of the innovation is to eliminate the use of pumice stone ,replacing it with a stainless –steel abraders ,attached to the washing machine. The process is entirely mechanical and not chemical in nature and the company claims the following advantages of the process.
The Advantages of NoStone are as under :
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Eliminates usage of pumice stones
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The effect is similar to that of of stone-wash
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All logistics, transport, mining and storing activities related to stones can be done away with
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Doing away with the costly cleaning and maintenance operations
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No need to dispose the sludge, stones and to purify waste water.
Water Brush By Tonello
The second denim finishing technology announced by Tonello is the WATER BRUSH. The water brush helps whitening and abrasion process for jeans as it uses jets of water to bring out the abraded look on the jeans. Unlike permanganate and manual brushing , which cause irritation and also harmful for the eyes ,skin as well as for the respiratory system , this Water Brush from Tonello is claimed to be totally ecological as it runs on water but consumes none. The water brush requires only one operator for its operation while the Permanganate and manual brushing needs considerable labour .
In essence, the technology of Water Brush consists of:
• A robot that whitens and abrades the garment by spraying water under high pressure;
• A central column to alternate two mannequins, one in the loading/unloading position and the other in the working position;
• A tank for collecting the water, with a filtration and recirculation system.
The system offers much reduced environmental impact and no health risk for the end user as the company claims.
Officiana+39, Italy
The company brings out RECYCROM – the dye made with 100% recycled textile powder. Basically the process involves recycling used clothing material into colored powder and dyes . These dyes can then be used for dyeing various textile items with eco-sustainable inputs and not environment harming chemical dyes.
