Fabric or garment dyeing, bleaching, and washing are the most carbon-intensive processes in the textile industry, as all are very high energy and water consuming processes.
Dutch startup DyeCoo Textile Systems is trying to reduce both through a technology that uses Carbon Dioxide (CO2) to achieve the same results while consuming lesser energy and water.
Dyeing yarn, fabrics, or garments is very carbon intensive as it uses boiling water to loosen fabric fibres so that the dye can be evenly applied.
Water consumption is also very high when scouring, bleaching or rinsing/washing the fabrics, a process known as wet processing.
Under the Dyecoo process, gray polyester fabrics are loaded in to a steel container which holds the CO2 gas.
“When the pressure in the container is turned up, the CO2 takes on the properties of both gas and liquid and in turn develops the ability to dissolve dye into the fabric,” media reports informed.Alth
ough high energy and water are not needed while dyeing the fabric or garment, water is still needed for rinsing the fabric after the dyeing process.
But overall water consumption is down by 50 percent and the CO2 can be recycled between two dyeing processes.
Technology that uses CO2 to dye fabrics or garments
