Swedish clean technology company OrganoClick is taking its environmentally friendly performance materials into the Asian market in a new partnership with Taiwanese textile manufacturer Chang-Ho Fibre, the company announced last month.
OrganoClick created OrganoTex, a fluorocarbon-free water-repellent textile treatment technology that is readily biodegradable and entirely fluorocarbon-free, and will now be positioned to supply it in Asia.
Robin Grankvist, business area manager at OrganoClick AB said, “In principle all textile production takes place in Asia, so it has been extremely important for us to find the right collaborative partner there.”
Currently, most water-repellant functional textiles on the market today contain harmful fluorocarbons like perfluorooctanoic (PFOA) for example, which has been known to disrupt hormones and is not biodegradable.
All OrganoTex treated fabrics get tested and analyzed for fluorocarbons to identify any impurities from other stages of the production process. If any are found, OrganoClick minimizes them and says retailers and brands can confidently tell consumers that products are fluorocarbon-free.
The first OrganoTex-treated product that Chang-Ho Fibre will launch is a 100 percent recycled polyester fabric. Volunteers at a charity organization in Asia collected the green PET bottles used to make the fabric. Since the fabric retains the green color from the bottles it doesn’t need to be re-dyed, which saves both water and energy, two increasingly important factors in creating a sustainable production process. The new recycled polyester fabric was chosen as one of the most exciting textile breakthroughs at ISPO Munich, the outdoor, ski, action and performance sports product trade show.
Mark Chen, business manager at Chang-Ho Fibre said, “Selecting OrganoTex® as a fluorocarbon-free water-repellent textile treatment was an obvious choice for us, as this technology is biodegradable and is not harmful, in accordance with the European REACH regulations. These reasons, together with the unique recycling process, mean that the recycled polyester fabric is perhaps the World’s greenest functional fabric — literally. ”