ITMA, the epitome of work in progress
Anticipation was high when industry shopping mecca ITMA opened its doors at Fiera Milano Rho this June. Visitors, numbering more than 100,000, flocked from all corners of the world looking for faster, smarter and more efficient equipment and supplies to power the next generations of denims and jeans.
Humming aisles, busy booths, lively discussions, the 1,717 exhibitors at the latest International Textile Machinery Association (ITMA) exhibition have good reason to be satisfied with this edition, the first one to take place after the pandemic. Shaping a more sustainable industry was the key message expressed by the machinery, fibre and chemicals suppliers that called Milan home for a full week. Italy, not unexpectedly, topped the podium both in the cohort of exhibitors (30%) and visitors (29%). The turnout was due in no small part to the efforts of Alex Zucchi, president of the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT), and to the creative engineering skills of the Italian textile and fashion industry. The country’s green, white and red flag colours could be seen throughout the show’s six huge halls, across booths, machines and displays of products proudly made in Italy. Germany came second in the exhibitor count, with 198 companies booking 15% of the floor space, followed by Turkey, with 191 exhibitors occupying 12% of the halls. Chinese (7%) and Indian (6%) companies also made a strong showing.
Held every four years, ITMA is the place where exhibitors showcase truly innovative machinery and processes. Suppliers to the denim industry came en masse to display their new devices and solutions for all stages of manufacturing, from spinning to finishing and from garment-making to recycling. A telling sign of the importance of denim, Candiani picked up ITMA’s sustainable innovation award for the micro factory housed in its Milan boutique.
This is the second time its commitment to innovation has been honoured by the textile industry show. In 2019, its circular denim Re-Gen concept, made from 50% Tencel x Refibra Lyocell and 50% post-industrial recycled cotton fibres, garnered an Industry Excellence Award.
Innovation in dyeing
Dyeing processes, a field of constant innovation, was prominently featured at the show. Italian technology provider Tonello proudly displayed a new ultrasound garment dyeing machine. The use of high frequency sound waves is emerging as a promising solution to dye yarns, fabrics, and even finished garments, as seen here, with the promise of reducing energy, dyestuff and chemicals usage. “This is an industry first, as ultrasound has never been applied in a washing machine,” Alberto Lucchin, Tonello marketing and sustainability manager, tells Inside Denim. The Italian company partnered with Israel-based ultrasound specialist Sonovia to develop the new device. “Ultrasounds have many advantages: they increase the penetration of dyes which makes it possible to reduce chemicals and allows processing at lower temperatures,” he says, adding that it also improves the light fastness of natural dyes, which the company offers in its Wake range. Tonello’s new DyeMate technology was also prominently featured. This new garment-dyeing machine for vat, sulfur and indigo dyes does away with the need for hydrosulfite. “The reducing agent we use is nitrogen, and oxygen is pumped in to oxidise the dyestuff,” explains Mr Lucchin.
Officina39, based in Biella, Italy, showcased a new version of its pigments made from recycled textiles, Recycrom Ready To Dye. Its palette of 15 colours is made from a minimum of 65% pre- and post-consumer textiles, and can be used to dye cotton, wool, nylon or any cellulosic and natural fibre or blend. “Recycrom Ready To Dye is available on stock and the pigments can be mixed to create any dark or bright shade. This makes it easier for brands to adopt the concept,” says Andrea Venier, adding that “it will also help our clients increase the recycled content of their products.”
Exhibiting in the new Start-up Valley section of the show, Colourizd, a company based in the United States and Hong Kong, featured its latest indigo warp dyeing device it is calling QuantumCOLOUR Denim Machine. Using the company’s ‘direct colour application method’, it is said to deliver high consistency, reduce energy use by 50% and radically cut down water consumption (by 98%), to the point of generating zero effluent. The company has seen high interest for the technology, particularly from mills based in water stressed regions, such as Uzbekistan, whose president was part of a national delegation that made the trip to Milan.
Smarter chemicals & processes
The new product on show at Soko Chimica, a chemicals company based in Florence, Italy, claims to require less water than many so-called waterless processes. In development for the past two years, Hydrogel is the result of a complete rethink of finishing processes, Luca Braschi, denim laundry expert and consultant for Soko, tells Inside Denim.
“Laundries usually look to optimise machinery, washing machine drums, replace chemicals, and so on, but no one is thinking to change the medium itself: water. In essence, we jellify water.” The new concept, he adds, combines the fluidity of water with the viscosity of hydrogel to envelop the fibres and protect the yarns in a bubble of gel. “This completely changes the behaviour of both the water and the products added on. Now, for the first time, it is possible to use the same bath of water from raw to bleach. The result gives a balanced look, avoiding excess crack marks typical of standard waterless enzyme processes, and the flat look of conventional enzyme finishes, while saving a lot of water. That is the magic of the Hydrogel process,” he says. Soko will be presenting another innovative and production-friendly process at the Kingpins show.
Sustainable processes were, as can be expected, a major focus of the new products and devices on display at ITMA 2023. Yilmak, a laundry machine maker based in Istanbul, has a long history of breaking new ground in the field and made the trip to Milan to introduce its latest machines that integrate a technology developed by British laundry equipment supplier Xeros. Yilmak has upgraded its EcoGreen range, which features a pumpless, and therefore energy-saving water circulation system, with Xeros’ XDrum and XOrbs delivering-and-harvesting technology. The XOrb polymer beads are presented as an alternative to pumice stones. “XOrbs can be reused for 10 years, they last much longer than pumice, and are much safer for workers. They also reduce friction between garments which speeds up cleaning and reduces wear,” says Xeros licensing director for commercial products Jamie Harrison. The patented technology fits well into our line-up, notes Yilmak general manager for sales and marketing Furkan Civelek, adding that the company is “always looking for bright ideas.” Yilmak’s Eco-friendly 2020 HNS tumbler dryers feature another instance of smart engineering: their energy-saving closed-circuit system is designed to keep steam in circulation while fresh air is added. “Instead of needing to heat water from 0 to 90°C, we only need to heat it from 40° to 90°C, which basically cuts steam use by half,” says Mr Civelek.
Higher quality recycled cotton
One highly anticipated new machine designed to optimise cotton recycling was on display at the booth of Temsan. The Turkey-based textile air conditioning equipment supplier revealed the latest version of a cotton recycling line co-developed with Säntis Textiles, a Swiss engineering company headquartered in Singapore, Turkish denim mill Kipas and Swinsol, a Swiss company that specialises in mechanical compact spinning processes. The new RCO100 recycling line, designed to convert pre- and post-consumer cotton into 100% recycled cotton yarns, is an evolution of an earlier machine first launched in 2016 with PVH and installed at Kipas in Kahramanmaras. This first-generation line produces from 300 to 350 tonnes of recycled cotton bales per month. Addressing the challenge of obtaining high quality fibres from recycled content, the new and improved version is designed to shred and process waste as gently as possible so as to maintain maximum fibre length and strength. This is due in part to a system that recirculates unopened yarn and fabric material as many times as needed. This is said to be crucial to achieve the highest possible fibre lengths. The new machine, says Säntis, can process up to 450 tonnes per month, or some 10 to 12 tonnes daily.
New and improved mechanical recycling solutions were a key focus at the booths of spinning specialists Andritz, from Austria, and Trützschler and Rieter, based in Switzerland. Demand for yarns made from recycled content is high, but achieving decent yarn quality is a challenge that Rieter believes its new Com4recycling spinning system solves. It is said to enable customers to produce fine, high-quality ring and compact yarns from challenging raw material. This holds true even with a relatively high proportion of mechanically recycled cotton fibres, the company says. “We have focused on addressing the issue of shorter fibres that have a lot of neps after the shredding process,” Sathyanarayanan Subramanian, technology and process analytics manager for Rieter’s machines and systems business group, tells Inside Denim. In ring spun yarns, he says that recycled content can rarely go higher than 15-20% of a yarn. “Our technology can now handle 50% recycled content and maintain the performances of a non-recycled ring spun yarn.” A collaborative project between Polopiqué, Recover and Rieter was featured on the spinning machine maker’s booth.
Cotton waste can also be transformed into new fibres, as seen at Finnish company Infinited Fiber, one of the few fibre producers to exhibit at ITMA. Its booth highlighted the need to build up post-consumer garment recycling facilities to address demand for cotton-like recycled fibres, estimated to be 4.5 million tonnes/year. This number is based on the volume of garments discarded in Europe and the likelihood of future legislation imposing a proportion of recycled content in products, chief marketing manager Tanja Karila tells Inside Denim. Infinited Fiber turns cotton-rich textile waste into Infinna fibre using a urea-based viscose production process, which is cleaner and safer than conventional viscose production, she says. The company is currently operating a pilot facility that produces 150 tonnes of Infinna yearly, and it is fully sold out, she notes. A flagship factory will begin operating in 2026 at a scale of 30,000 tonnes per year. “But this would still be far from addressing future needs. If we had four large-scale factories we could produce 0.5 million tonnes yearly,” she posits, but that would still only cover a portion of demand. Ms Karila said that the company made the trip to Milan looking for partners and investors.
Exhibiting in a four-year cycle, ITMA allows machinery makers and suppliers to the textile industry time to explore novel technologies and engineer next-generation solutions that are truly innovative. The 2023 show was in that sense a banner edition, paving the way to a cleaner and more responsible industry.
