THOMAS APLAS

HEAD OF APPLICATION FIELD GARMENT, TEXTILE AUXILIARY SOLUTIONS, CHT GROUP

Chemicals in Denim – there is such variety! I would like to limit myself here to the part of the jean treatment, i.e., the finished sewn but still raw garment.

Let me start with the innovations which we already have. There are replacements for potassium permanganate – one of the strongest environmental poisons. This substance is declared as CMR in the European Union, the highest level of declaration for a poison to humans. There are also replacements for chlorine - a chemical that heavily pollutes wastewater and becomes a problem mainly because of the very high application quantities. And we can also replace pumice stones – often treated as a harmless component in the jeans treatment. Megatons of stones develop into dust and sand while treating jeans, combined with dye, chemical residues, and fiber fluff - it creates oodles of blue sludge that hopefully is always properly treated and disposed of!

To use the existing solutions, two barriers that do not require innovation must be overcome. Firstly: Harsh Chemistry is used because it is cheap.

If the ecological replacements were cheap, they would be used. We have to find the money to pay for it. We are talking about for sure less than 1.- EUR extra per pair of jeans! Secondly: With all the already existing solutions, we might not replace all the looks we are used to, but we are so close to doing so. We have to accept these little differences in looks – if there are any at all. Designers – it is your turn!

Of course, we have to work on further innovations, and we will! But if we don’t use the ones which are ready... cht.com