Spanish fashion retailer Inditex and Spanish sustainable clothing finisher Jeanologia have developed the first industrial air system that captures microfibers during the manufacture of garments, reducing their later shedding in home laundering.
Dubbed the Air Fiber Washer, the new system extracts up to 60 percent of microfibers during the manufacturing process by using dynamic airflow combined with microfiltration to capture microfibers. According to Inditex and Jeanologia, each industrial Air Fiber Washer machine can collect up to 325 kilograms of microfibers per year for potential reuse, depending on the type of fabric and machine conditions such as loading and movement.
“We must promote innovative solutions that allow us to respond to the challenges of our industry, such as the elimination of microfibers. This project with Jeanologia is an example of how we can work with other industries to limit our impact on resources such as water already at the manufacturing stage,” comments Javier Losada, Director General for Sustainability at Inditex, in a press release.
Microfibers are small particles with a length of less than 15 millimeters, which are mainly separated from textiles during the first household wash. “This is one of the major challenges for the textile industry, as the current industrial capacities for water treatment are limited,” say the two companies.
Microfiber extraction by airflow
The Air Fiber Washer is currently being presented to the public for the first time at the international textile trade fair (ITMA) in Milan, which ends tomorrow. The technology will be made available to industry “unconditionally,” the companies promised, as part of their effort to reduce microfiber waste. The aim is to offer manufacturers, brands and retailers cost-neutral technological solutions so that they can use them immediately.
“With innovative technology, this new development enables a reduction of microfiber shedding by up to 60 percent through the use of air, without the use of water or heat energy and without compromising aspects such as fabric quality. The dynamic airflow extracts the microfibers from the garments and collects them in a collection bag for eventual recycling, bringing us closer to a zero-waste, circular economy,” the press release reads.
“Working with Inditex is a great experience and a source of pride. This initiative is just the first step in the mission we have set ourselves to minimize the impact of microfiber waste in textile manufacturing and in the product life cycle,” emphasized Jeanologia President Enrique Silla.