February 6, 2020 Achieving Sustainability with Synthetic Fibers
One of the most eco-certified recycled synthetic fibers on the planet, Chromuch, is the sustainable fiber the performance and outdoor industries have been looking for.
If one were to summarize the textile industry’s environmental footprint in a nutshell, it all comes down to waste: wasteful resource extraction, wasteful production, and a wasteful use and disposal stage. Fortunately, there are solutions at every stage just waiting to be implemented.
100% post-consumer recycled
Polyester has performance and durability qualities that are hard to beat. But considering the sheer amounts of polyester waste currently being generated and the relative ease of recycling it, using virgin polyester hardly makes sense. Recycled polyester, on the other hand, effectively kills two birds with one stone: it reduces the need for raw resource extraction while mitigating waste stream impacts.
Chromuch fibers are made entirely of recycled post-consumer PET bottles, whereby every kilogram of Chromuch fiber uses 77 plastic bottles that would otherwise end up in landfills and seas. At end of life, Chromuch is working to offer fully-recyclable fabrics that can be returned to the recycled input stream from which it came.
100% water-free production
When it comes to resources, none are more precious than water. But judging by the textiles industry’s water consumption and pollution, one could be forgiven for thinking this resource was in endless supply. Of course, the opposite is true: Just 1% of our planet’s water is unfrozen fresh water, a quantity that needs to satisfy both human and land animal thirsts.
Chromuch provides a solution to the industry’s unsustainable consumption of water by using absolutely no water at all. Employing a water-free solution dyeing process, Chromuch saves 3 gallons of fresh water per yard of fabric.
Fully certified
Recycled, waterless, durable and recyclable – Chromuch claims to be one of the most sustainable synthetic fibers out there, offering a cradle-to-cradle solution at each stage of the product cycle. But one needn’t take their word for it. With certifications like Global Recycled Standard 4.0, Bluesign Approved, Higg Index Certified, Oeko Tex, ISO-14001 and ISO-9001, Chromuch’s credentials can speak for themselves.
CHROMSHIELD™ TECHNOLOGY
If you placed a Chromuch fiber under a microscope, you’d find a colored fiber core. This is where the primary color ‘lives’ so to speak, but next comes the ‘shield’ – a solution dyed protective wrap that provides yet another layer of magnified color vibrancy, superior colorfastness, and the possibility to add a layer of performance functionality into the yarn such as UV, fire-retardant, quick-dry, cooling, heat retention, anti-static and antibacterial protection. The result is a premium, recycled polyester yarn that offers longer lasting, more intense colors and enhanced performance features for apparel and equipment.
