Every year, the garment industry uses approximately five trillion liters of water just to dye the fabric, according to the World Resources Institute, externalAmerican non-profit research center.
Industry, in turn, is responsible for 20% of the world’s industrial water pollution and also uses vital resources such as groundwater in some countries. It also releases a huge carbon footprint from start to finish – or about 10% of annual global emissions, according to the United Nations Environment Program, external.
Alchemie says their technology can help solve this problem.
His machine, called the Endeavor, can compress dyeing, drying and fixing fabric into a much shorter, water-saving process.
According to the company, Endeavor uses the same principle as inkjet printing to quickly and accurately apply ink to and through fabric. The machine’s 2,800 dispensers produce approximately 1.2 billion drops per linear meter of fabric.
“What we’re actually doing is registering and accurately and precisely placing a droplet, a very small droplet, on the fabric. And we can turn these drops on and off like a light switch,” says Dr Hud.
Alchemie claims the process offers significant savings, with water consumption reduced by 95%, energy consumption by up to 85% and running three to five times faster than traditional processes.
Originally developed in Cambridge, the company is currently in Taiwan to see how Endeavor works in a real-world environment.
“In the UK, they’re really strong in R&D projects, they’re really strong in inventing new things, but certainly if you want to go commercial, you have to go to real factories,” says Ryan Chen, Alchemie’s new head of operations. who has experience in textile manufacturing in Taiwan.
