Clariant awarded EU Ecolabel for denim technology

The EU Ecolabel, also known as the “EU Flower label”, is considered one of the highest certifications, acknowledging that all stages in the production of a finished article have met the EU’s stringent environmental protocols.

Problems associated with traditional denim fabric production have contributed towards making Ecolabel certification for denim difficult to attain. However, Clariant developed its own denim prototype clothing collection, working in collaboration with a textile mill and laundry to demonstrate that achieving Ecolabel certification for denim is achievable with its Pad/Sizing-Ox dyeing technology.

The company says that its Advanced Denim technology has simplified the finishing and dyeing of a fabric that accounts for some 14% of global cotton production. In the conventional denim indigo dyeing process, the fabric passes through a line of 10 to 14 vats, depending on the equipment used. Clariant’s Denim-Ox process brings this sequence down to 4, and its Pad/Sizing Ox reduces this further to just 1 vat. Both methods utilize the company’s Diresul RDT dyes, which generate a broader spectrum of shades than usually associated with conventional indigo dyes but without its environmental problems.

According to Clariant, if Advanced Denim technology were adopted in the production of 25% of jeans worldwide, it would save 62 million m3 of water/year, the equivalent of the water consumption of 1.7 million people. The new chemistry available would also eliminate the need to treat 8.3 million m3/year of wastewater, 220 million kWh of power would be saved and the carbon footprint of the industry in CO2 emissions reduced accordingly.

“We needed to show our partners in the denim production chain that our new process could fundamentally improve their own environmental credentials and their ability to promote and market them,” said Miguel Sanchez, head of global PL dyes in the Textile Chemicals business unit of Clariant. “The EU Ecolabel endorsement illustrates that the Advanced Denim process is an essential element for those denim manufacturers who wish to benefit from the retail and consumer benefits that flow from Ecolabel status.”