Clariant's Advanced Denim tech bags ICIS innovation award

Clariant announced that its Advanced Denim technology has been honored by two of the prestigious 2012 Innovation Awards organized by ICIS. ICIS Chemical Business magazine revealed the winners of the 2012 edition of its awards. Not only was the Advanced Denim breakthrough eco-advanced dyeing technology recognized by the jury as“Innovation with Best Environmental Benefit”, but it was also judged as this year’s overall winner.

Designed and developed by the Special Dyes specialist team of Clariant’s Business Unit Textile Chemicals in Castellbisbal, near Barcelona, Spain, the two ICIS awards acknowledge that, even with a denim production process that had seen no significant evolution in more than 150 years, a revolution is possible–an environmental one in this case made by Clariant.

The production of denim fabric usually involves huge quantities of water. Clariant’s Advanced Denim technology simplifies the finishing and dyeing of a fabric that accounts for some 14% of global cotton production. In total, when employing the Clariant’s Advanced Denim processes, Denim-Ox and Pad/Sizing Ox, water consumption can be reduced by as much as 92%, while 63% of the usual cotton waste is avoided and around 30% can be saved in energy costs too compared to a traditional denim processes.

Clariant calculated that if Clariant’s 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 technology 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 and its users in CO2 emissions reduced accordingly.

Clariant was one of the first companies to be awarded an EU Ecolabel for its illustration collection of jeans in recognition of the sustainability benefits of Advanced Denim.

Industry leadership

Clariant’s Advanced Denim is a remarkable illustration of the company’s commitment to developing and introducing solutions for a more sustainable textile industry. This commitment led to the recent launch of its new sustainable service: ONE WAY.

Clariant’s ONE WAY will help textile mills, brands and retailers to develop innovative solutions that are both more ecologically and economically sustainable by providing a fast, measurable and reliable approach to the selection of chemical products and process solutions.

Based on stringent standards and a systematic approach with a unique set of sophisticated tools, Clariant’s ONE WAY will allow customers to make an informed decision by delivering the overall cost and performance profile of a given textile solution, as well as its impact against key ecological performance indicators, such as COD, BOD, CO2 emissions, energy and water.

Clariant’s ONE WAY aims to raise industry awareness and efforts to create a more sustainable global textile value chain by developing and introducing innovative textile solutions that balance the twin objectives of ecology and economy.

Innovation and sustainability rooted in Clariant’s strategy

It is the second year in a row that Clariant is honored by the leading international information provider for the chemical industry. In 2011, Clariant received a special mention for its EasyWhite Tan process, a fundamental advance in tanning allowing a simpler, safer way to tan leather while reducing water and chemical consumption and waste water salinity, compared to established tanning technologies. This process allows a heavy metal free tanning of leather answering requests by the final consumers for an environmental sound product.

Advanced Denim and EasyWhite Tan are only two examples of Clariant’s constant flow of innovations that are safer for the user and gentler on the environment. Despite the challenging economic environment, Clariant intensified its efforts in 2011 to achieve sustainable management.

The group is optimizing a large number of activities to meet sustainability objectives and, accordingly, in 2011 Clariant achieved further goals to reduce emissions and protect the environment.

In addition, Clariant has set itself concrete environmental goals and aims to reduce by 2020 energy consumption in the Clariant Group by 30 percent and CO2 emissions and waste accumulation by 45 percent, each compared with 2005 levels.