Our process is fully compatible with existing infrastructures
France-based Ever Dye develops an innovative dyeing process combined with sustainable colours to depollute the industry. The company has so far developed two green chemical solutions, that fully fit into existing infrastructures of dye houses, and allow them to bleach and dye at room temperature without using any petrochemicals. In a chat with Fibre2Fashion, Ever Dye Co-Founder & CEO Ilan Palacci talks about depolluting the textile and garment dyeing process.
How big is the problem of pollution caused due to the use of dyes in the textile industry?
Textile dyeing treatments have two major impacts: they account for 20 per cent of world water pollution (according to the World Bank) and they also account for 15 per cent of the GHG emissions of the textile industry (according to McKinsey).
Which causes more emissions — the use of dyes and colours or the dyeing process itself?
Emissions have multiple causes: energy, dyestuffs, chemicals… Today, the dyeing process is more impactful than dyestuffs themselves because the process is very energy-intensive, and this energy comes from fossil fuels. As a consequence, we’re investing as much in our R&D in making dyeing at room temperature a possibility, as substituting petrochemical dyestuffs with our green alternative.
What should the textile industry do to depollute, especially the dyeing process?
The industry needs to invest massively in companies that are developing new technologies to depollute each step of the production from the material production to the manufacturing. With these investments, these new technologies will become more and more competitive compared to current solutions and will spread in the supply chain.
How long will it take for the textile industry to go completely green? Why?
It will take time, but we can see an acceleration in this transformation because of new regulations that are making it mandatory to change how garments are being manufactured and recycled. Also, as consumers are demanding more sustainable clothes, brands must invest in these new materials and processes to remain desired by consumers.
Ever Dye has developed an innovative process for dyeing. How does this differ from other existing processes in terms of cost, time and energy-use?
During the bleaching phase, our solution will also pre-treat the fibre to give a negative charge at the surface of the fibre that will work as an anchoring site for our positively charged colourant. By applying this chemical pre-treatment, we’re allowing dye house to produce 5x faster with 15x less energy and without using any petrochemicals.
Can Ever Dye process be used in all existing facilities?
As we’re only changing the chemistry of the dyeing process, our solutions can be applied in all existing facilities at any stage: yarn dyeing, fabric dyeing or garment dyeing. Furthermore, we’re not asking dyeing mills to make any investment to go through our process that is fully compatible with their existing infrastructures.
Talking about the colours used in the textile industry, what are they normally made of, and what are sustainable colours?
Current dyestuffs found on the market are almost exclusively derived from petrochemicals. New technologies are appearing to produce bio-sourced colourants, but they still need to become iso-performant and price competitive. These sustainable colours have a lesser impact on the planet as they are derived from waste or plant.
Ever Dye is also a part of the Fashion for Good programme. Please tell us more.
Fashion for Good is a fantastic programme bringing together fashion innovators from around the world that are doing their best to transform the industry in depth. Through this programme, we’re getting a lot of support in our development at many levels: technically, strategically, and financially. We’re glad to be part of the 2022 cohort, and I’d advise fashion innovators to apply to get into this programme.
Published on: 03/05/2022
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
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