Alchemie Technology, a British Textile Machinery Association (BTMA) member and pioneer of precision jet dyeing, has entered a strategic partnership with Acatel to validate and optimise Alchemie’s Endeavour system for knitted cellulosic fabrics.
What’s being developed
The collaboration will focus on preparing Endeavour for large-scale industrial manufacturing of knitted fabrics based on cotton, lyocell, linen, hemp and wool blends. Endeavour is a fully electric, non-contact digital dyeing process that replaces conventional aqueous dyeing routes.
Performance benchmarks vs. traditional dyeing
- Up to 85% reduction in energy use and CO₂ emissions
- Up to 95% reduction in water consumption
- Up to 30% savings in dyeing chemistry
The system uses a proprietary liquid application approach—large droplet size combined with high droplet velocity—to achieve deep penetration and high precision within the fabric structure.
12-month R&D programme
The partners will run a twelve-month R&D programme at the Acatel Innovation Hub in northern Portugal, leveraging Acatel’s industrial know-how, manufacturing infrastructure and sustainability-led innovation ecosystem to accelerate commercial readiness.
Industry perspectives
“Transforming one of the world’s most resource-intensive industrial processes requires resilience, vision and innovation,” said Alan Hudd, Founder & CEO of Alchemie Technology.
“With this collaboration we are empowering textile producers to redefine responsible manufacturing,” said Tércio Pinto, Board Member at Acatel.
“Textile dyeing is a significant polluter… Alchemie’s digital technologies promise a dramatic reduction in energy consumption while eliminating contaminated wastewater,”
added Jason Kent, CEO of BTMA.
Market visibility
To mark the partnership, Alchemie and Acatel will exhibit side-by-side at Première Vision (Paris, Feb 3–5), where visitors can assess the touch and feel of fabrics processed using Endeavour and learn how the technology delivers sustainability and efficiency gains.
Why it matters
Textile dyeing remains one of the sector’s largest environmental hotspots. This partnership signals a credible pathway to industrial-scale adoption of digital, low-carbon dyeing for cellulosics in Europe—combining UK-developed technology with Portuguese manufacturing excellence to accelerate real-world impact.
