The apparel industry has a significant environmental impact with the use of massive amounts of heat and water for dyeing fabric, generating around 10% of annual global emissions. Alchemie Technology has developed a digital dyeing process called Endeavour that can reduce water consumption by 95%, energy consumption up to 85%, and work three to five times faster than traditional processes.
Traditional Dyeing Process
Traditionally, textile dyeing involves steeping fabric in water at high temperatures for several hours, resulting in gallons and tons of toxic wastewater. For example, to dye one ton of polyester, 30 tons of toxic wastewater are generated. This process has been used since the 19th century and is still employed by many factories today.
Alchemie’s Endeavour Technology
Alchemie, a UK-based start-up, has developed a digital dyeing process called Endeavour that aims to upend the global apparel industry and reduce its carbon footprint. The company claims that its technology can compress fabric dyeing, drying, and fixing into a dramatically shorter and water-saving process.
How Alchemie’s Digital Dyeing Process Works
Endeavour uses the same principle as inkjet printing to rapidly and precisely fire dye onto and through the fabric. The machine’s 2,800 dispensers fire roughly 1.2 billion droplets per linear meter of fabric. This means that Alchemie can reduce water consumption by 95%, energy consumption up to 85%, and work three to five times faster than traditional processes.
Scaling Up: The Challenge Ahead
While Alchemie’s digital dyeing process shows promise, scaling it up to meet the demands of big fashion companies will be a significant challenge. Big fashion companies like Inditex, the owner of Zara, work with thousands of factories, and its suppliers would need hundreds of Endeavours working together to meet its demand for fabric dyeing.
The Future of Dyeing Fabric
The future of dyeing fabric looks promising, but it will require significant investment and innovation. Alchemie is not the only company attempting a nearly waterless dye process – there are other companies like NTX and Imogo that have developed similar technologies. However, with the right support and funding, Alchemie’s digital dyeing process could be the game-changer the apparel industry needs to reduce its environmental impact.
The apparel industry is one of the largest polluters in the world, with dye houses using massive amounts of heat and water to colour clothes. According to the World Resources Institute, a US-based non-profit research centre, the industry uses an estimated five trillion litres of water each year to simply dye fabric.
The Environmental Impact of Dyeing Fabric
The environmental impact of dyeing fabric is staggering. Not only does it use up vital resources like groundwater in some countries, but it also releases a massive carbon footprint from start to finish – around 10% of annual global emissions, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.
A New Solution: Alchemie’s Digital Dyeing Process
Alchemie Technology, a UK-based start-up, has developed the world’s first digital dyeing process. Their machine, called Endeavour, uses a printing process to fix colours and can compress fabric dyeing, drying, and fixing into a dramatically shorter and water-saving process.
Scaling Up Endeavour
Alchemie plans to scale up its Endeavour technology in 2025, with test runs in South Asia and Portugal. The company aims to deploy hundreds of machines to meet the demand for fabric dyeing from big fashion companies like Inditex, which owns Zara.
Conclusion
The environmental impact of colouring clothes is significant, with the apparel industry using an estimated five trillion litres of water each year and generating 20% of the world’s industrial water pollution. Alchemie’s Endeavour technology offers a potential solution to this problem, reducing water consumption by 95%, energy consumption up to 85%, and working three to five times faster than traditional processes.
