Every drop counts
From cotton farming to fabric and garment processing, the denim industry is often charged with consuming inordinate amounts of water. In reality, much progress has been made to counter these accusations. The latest developments focus on recycling water to achieve zero-liquid discharge.
It is easy to accuse the denim sector of reckless use of a precious resource. From cotton farming to denim fabric processing and to garment finishing, it does not have a great track record for water management. But though this may have been true a decade or so ago, much has changed in recent years. This is one of the key takeaways of the Transformers Foundation report, ‘Cotton: a case study in misinformation’, released last October.
In addition to progress in the cotton fields, the industry has been busy working on many innovative, and at times truly disruptive, technologies that have contributed to reducing energy, chemicals and, possibly more importantly for society at large, water consumption.
Jeanologia is, in this field, one of the first names to come to mind as an inventor and purveyor of disruptive technologies. The Valencia-based company’s first laser machines date back to 1999 and it introduced ozone as early as 2005, nebulisation in 2010 with e-Flow, and H2 Zero in 2016.
Many of Jeanologia’s technologies have become industry standards. Staying true to its philosophy, it is now calling on the industry to further reduce its use of water with its Mission Zero pledge. In the words of company founder, Enrique Silla, “after covid, the next global crisis will be the water crisis” and this is why it is necessary to “dehydrate and detoxify the industry by 2025”.
According to Jeanologia, its H2 Zero concept can “rewrite the future of the industry of jean finishing by its ability to recycle 100% of water used and guarantee zero discharge”. When Mission Zero was officially announced on World Water Day in 2021, there were 19 H2 Zero machines installed in plants across the globe. The company estimates that these saved some 15.5 million cubic-metres of water in 2020. These numbers are based on the company’s integrated Environmental Impact Measuring (EIM) software program that monitors impacts in real time.
Reducing water usage in denim finishing is also the goal of Wiser Wash, which introduced its waterless denim processing technology in 2017, after six years of research. A combination of electrified ozone gas and laser, it claims to be able to achieve specialty bleached effects and bright contrasts using only one cup of water. Wiser Globe, a holding company based in Amsterdam, oversees two divisions, Wiser Wash and Wiser Tech.
“Wiser Wash has developed a solution that continually monitors and verifies the process to achieve the right look and reduce the risk of variations from run to run,” says Musa Çakici, business development director for Wiser Wash. “The sensor-equipped machines measure ozone concentration and distribution inside the tumbler, which makes it possible to achieve consistent results.”
Wiser Tech, the software side of the business, uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to continually optimise the technology. It also stores and monitors the parameters a company usually uses to obtain a given effect. An augmented reality system, presented at PV Denim, allows technicians to control the machines remotely to assist mills equipped with the technology.
Wiser Wash machines are currently running in Turkey, Vietnam, India and Italy. Musa Çakici operates two laundries in Turkey, a conventional one and a Wiser Wash equipped one, which enables him to compare time, energy and results between the two systems. Wiser Wash technology is slower than conventional processing, and the machines are costly, but he believes that scaling up will bring costs down, and insists that it is essential to shift to more sustainable processes that use less water. “Our sales are going up by 40% every year; this is a sign that brands are ready to do good,” he says. His Wiser Wash facility can produce 200,000 pieces per month.
Italian denim manufacturer Elleti Group believes in the system and is the company’s exclusive partner in Europe and the Mediterranean region. A pilot line has been set up in its facility in Verona, and if it proves to be popular, Luigi Lovato, company CEO, says he will have units installed in the group’s other factories in Tunisia and Romania.
The first samples made in early 2021, amounting to 200,000 garments, were a “huge success”, he says, adding: “Wiser Wash gives beautiful results that are very close to conventional washing but a lot more sustainable.” He explains that enzymes are first applied to prepare the load, but there are virtually no other chemicals and very little water used. “It is a very innovative and very sustainable system, but requires a big investment,” he says.
The switch to ozone
Innovation in ozone can also be seen at technology provider Tonello, based in Vicenza, with its O-Zone machine developed in tandem with Candiani Denim. This new process makes it possible to obtain unique and customisable aesthetics, such as localised fading and lightening, Alice Tonello, marketing and R&D manager, tells Inside Denim. The ultimate innovation in terms of reduced water consumption, she says, is the company’s All-in-One System. “This is a washing machine that integrates within the same machine our latest sustainable finishing technologies,” which she says include ECOfree 2, NoStone, Core and UP.
Tonello’s ECOfree 2 uses ozone in both water and air, leading to significant savings in water and chemical consumption. Core, designed to create effects and apply chemicals on garments, can lead, in some cases, to reduced water consumption of up to 96%. Finally, UP optimises garment washing, reducing the liquor ratio to unprecedented levels (LR 2:1), she claims, and also dramatically reduces energy use, processing time and costs.
Italian mill Berto has recently made important investments in its finishing department. “More precisely we are now finishing many of the fabrics in our collection with Jeanologia’s G2 Dynamic technology. It has made a special edition of the machine specifically for Berto,” says marketing manager Francesca Polato. The ozone-based technology uses only about 0.8 litres of water instead of the standard 5.2 litres, leading to 80% savings in water consumption, she says. Moreover, this type of finishing is said to give the fabric better performance in terms of crocking and laser treatment.
Smarter finishing solutions
As part of its recently launched “Aqualess Mission”, Italian chemicals company Officina +39 combines three products that it says reduce by three-quarters the amount of water typically used in denim and garment laundry processes. These products are Remover BC, a laser booster, Aqualess Aged, which creates abrasion effects, and Oz-One Powder. It suggests traditional systems use about 52 litres of water for a pair of jeans, while its system requires only 12.5 litres. Company CEO Andrea Venier tells Inside Denim that this concept has been applied in a capsule collection created by Spanish mill Royo using its Dry Indigo, another waterless process.
Chemicals supplier Garmon singles out Smart Foam as a way to minimise water usage by up to 80%. “This patent-pending system has allowed our industry to save an estimated 22 million litres of water since its introduction in 2020,” says marketing manager Francesco Romiti.
In the process of increasing the capacity of its plant in Egypt, denim mill Sharabati has invested in a new water treatment facility that will both treat and recycle water. “We will be able to reuse up to 50% of the water we use and that will lead to big water savings,” says Dr Dilek Erik, Sharabati marketing manager. The expanded facility brings total capacity from 10 to 12 million metres of fabric per month, she says.
DNM, a denim mill based in Damietta, Egypt, was established in 2011. Its modern facility is designed and engineered with the latest equipment and processes to minimise its environmental impact. Particularly sensitive to water consumption, it recycles 100% of its water thanks to a Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system, which returns 84% for reuse in the mill’s processes, and is verified by an ISO 14046 certificate. “As water is one of the Earth’s most precious resources, it is our central policy at DNM Denim. To produce 1 meter of fabric, 22.67 litres of water are used, of which only 3.68 litres are fresh water, the remaining 84% being recycled water,” says Zuhal Karaçayir, marketing executive.
Understandably, companies operating in Egypt are especially concerned about water usage. But all companies, from manufacturers to brands and retailers, have a responsibility towards local communities and biodiversity by ensuring that the precious resource is neither polluted nor wasted. In this matter, every drop counts.
Transformers Foundation speaks up about misinformation
Many articles on the impacts of the denim industry start out by stating that 20,000 litres of water are necessary to grow one kilogramme of cotton fibre. This is one of the five “myths” that a report by the Transformers Foundation, a non-profit, seeks to debunk in ‘Cotton: a case study in misinformation’, which it released with the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) in October.
Besides having no known primary source, the report explains that this claim is problematic as it is based on global averages that fail to capture the complexity of cotton and water. “Average rarely means typical, especially when it comes to farming. There are staggering global differences in the way cotton is grown and how much water farmers use, as well as how and if they use these inputs efficiently. Climate, rainfall, and irrigation technology vary greatly from one country to another, and often from region to region, and even field to field,” the report states. In addition, those infamous 20,000 litres do not include water used to make a cotton garment.
The in-depth investigation focuses on cotton farming practices and draws on ICAC data from 2020. It explains the difference between water use and water consumption, and the different forms of water: green, blue and grey, whose impacts and importance vary.
For each type of cotton cultivation, rainfed, irrigated, or a combination of both, the report strives to highlight the relevant information that could help the industry better measure and communicate about its impacts.
The oft-touted myths often stem from data that is inaccurate, outdated, or, the report says, “silenced”.
The industry, says Transformers Foundation, should make data transparency the norm to convey a clearer and cleaner image of its efforts and impacts if it wants to begin to seriously debunk widely shared but false factoids that taint its track record.
Jeanologia’s H2 Zero technology recycles 100% of water used and guarantees zero discharge. It is said to allow savings of more than 10m3 of water per hour. Photo: Jeanologia
