material-trends-offer-opportunities-for-textile-sustainability-challengesTEXTILE presents sustainability challenges as the world moves to a more...
Published on by Trudi Schifter, CEO and Founder AquaSPE
TEXTILE presents sustainability challenges as the world moves to a more circular economy, but recent trends provide an opportunity to surpass these.
“The initial challenges are almost insurmountable, but we’re starting to chip away at that,” said Andrew Dent, executive vice-president for research of Material ConneXion, a New York-based materials consultancy. In a presentation on sustainable material trends at the recently held TELA Conference 2021, he gave examples related to reduced waste from digital manufacturing, new performance treatments, dyeing technologies, leather and cotton-free alternatives, and end-of-textile-life practices. “These innovations are small-volume. That’s the concern. How do we take these innovations and have them end up as larger volume solutions for the market?”
SUSTAINABLE MATERIAL TRENDS
A way to reduce textile waste that has emerged is 3D (three-dimensional) or digitized knitting, where items are produced by inputting design information into a program, and a machine knits the information using only the needed materials. Companies that use the technology include the Swedish furniture company Ikea, which uses it for one of its chairs.
https://www.bworldonline.com/material-trends-offer-opportunities-for-textile-sustainability-challenges/