New York Times on Colorep: Cutting Water Use in the Textile Industry
July 23rd, 2009 | by admin Published in Clean Technology
A blog posting by Sarah Peters in the New York Times featured Airdye, a technology developed by 21Ventures portfolio company Colorep for creating eco clothing, by dyeing fabric without the use of water.
The process of making textiles can require several dozen gallons of water for each pound of clothing, especially during the dyeing process. Amid tightening environmental regulations and a push to save money, companies are working to reduce the waste.
One such company working to cut its water use is Colorep, which is based in California. Its AirDye technology, used for the occasional window shade or T-shirt, employs air instead of water to help the dye penetrate the fiber, a process that Colorep claims uses no water and requires less energy.
The technology works only on synthetic materials and is currently available only in the United States (where only a small fraction of the world’s clothing is made, of course). But Colorep says it plans to extend its use to Europe by the end of summer, and to Central America by late this year.
Todd Copeland, who monitors the environmental impact of materials for the outdoor clothing manufacturer Patagonia, said that one of the sewing factories in the United States that does contract work for the company is currently installing AirDye. One limitation: “It does not work on cotton or wool or the other fiber types that we use to make our products,” Mr. Copeland said — though he noted it does work on polyester.
