Sustainable Innovation: Turning Waste into Fabrics

As a country striving to sustainable development, Taiwan’s textile industry attaches great importance to introducing advanced technology and using recycled materials to produce environmentally friendly products in a circular way. 

The textile industry is one of the largest polluters of fresh water and generates huge waste every year. Taiwan has been working hard to develop sustainable textile production methods to reduce the textile industry’s environmental impact. 

Leading textile manufacturers, such as ACELON, Creative Tech Textile, Far Eastern New Century (FENC), Honmyue and Kingwhale, are playing an essential role in promoting a green manufacturing mindset. 

ACELON: DuraXtend® Eco is a recycled nylon abrasion resistant yarn which can be break slower and help textiles lower down the weight loss after frequent use. DuraXtend® embedded with technical porous structure, helps elastic recovery, distortion withstanding and abrasion resistant ability to textiles. DuraXtend™ has better resistance to wear. Under same wearing test cycles, textiles made with DuraXtend™ offers extra 30-50% resistance to less the weight loss.

CREATIVE TECH: Seawool® & Smawarm® – the raw materials are derived from upcycled oyster shells and recycled PET bottles, fusing them with the lastest nano technology to create fibers containing UV protection, low thermal conductivity, far infrared and anti-order functions, which surpass wool and down in all aspects. 

FENC: TopGreen® Bio3-PET – is the first fabric made from recycled carbon emissions which is using waste gas reuse technology & N66 solution dye. It utilizes Lanza Tech’s cutting-edge bio technology that transforms industrial waste gas into low carbon MEG, which is then utilized in PET filaments production. TopGreen ® Bio3 solution was recognized by winning the ISPO Textrends Awards “Best Product” and International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) “Sustainability & Innovation Awards” in 2022. 

HONMYUE: NüPalette – 100% solution dyed high tenacity nylon yarn. Inspired from palette of CMYK, this high-strength nylon yarn, with saturated color and high color fastness, can be woven into fabrics of many colors and achieve water-saving, energy-saving, carbon reduction and durability. 

KINGWHALE: L.I.T. – is low Impact Technology. It is lauded for its waste reduction and efficiency. The innovative yarn technology modifies the molecular structure of polyester. L.I.T. yarn can be dyed at lower temperatures and shorten the dying process. Accordingly, the dyeing process for these modified fibres requires 60% less water for dye preservation, 15% less dyestuffs to achieve colour, and 22% less electricity for heating and cooling. Kingwhale has joined the RE100 global initiative, pledging to 100% renewable electricity by 2040, and becoming the first textile mill in Asia-Pacific to do so. 

Source: https://www.ecotextile.com/