Textile Insight

IN THE STUDIO/CIRCULARITY sewn into products provides information about repair, resale and recycling. Customers receive a $20 NEMO gi card for turning in gear to recycle. NEMO is working with advanced molecular recycling startup Ambercycle, along with ALLIED Feather + Down and Unifi, to tackle products that are materially complex, like down sleeping bags and backpacks. E.DYE e.dye is a waterless color system. While typical piece dyeing only colors the outside, e.dye color permeates all the way through synthetic yarns. e firm uses the same process as dope dyeing, creating pigment recipes to make masterbatch (mathematically-derived pigment and dyestuff formulas) and extrude yarns in color (color goes directly inside yarn filaments, before the polymers are extruded). Unlike typical solution dye companies, e.dye offers nearly 10,000 colors, plus the ability to make custom hues. E.dye improves color consistency and repeatability. e existing dye process in use for 75+ years was designed for cotton and wool, not synthetic fibers. We asked Michael Murphy, senior advisor for e.dye, why it's important to think about sustainable components and fabrics in the beginning of the design process: "Sorting post-consumer garments into fabric types is the MOST expensive part of the process at this point. If we know what the product inputs are, less sorting is necessary. One current uniform project we are doing uses e.dye fabrics, sewing thread, trims and zippers - all made with our rPET masterbatch color that are identified as e.dye rPET - so when the garments are eventually returned, little or no sorting is required," he said. LOOPTWORKS e Loopt System is recycling that allows for the processing of multiple types of pre and post-consumer garments back into pure recycled fiber, including products with blended fiber materials. "e benefit of the Loopt System is that it allows for broad textile recycling of both natural and synthetic materials, including acrylic and wool, to create recycled fibers for spinning," said Alyssa Augustine, head of design innovation for Looptworks. e firm, founded in 2009, is slated to open a new textile circularity facility in Gresham, OR producing circular fibers in August 2024. For firms just embarking on the circular journey, Looptworks founder Scott Hamlin advises "the number one way to prepare is to add a line-item expense 28 • Textile Insight ~ Summer 2024 textileinsight.com A Stone Island Light Soft Shell with e.dye technology e.dye color choices "We swapped out virgin polyester for rPET and made as many trims out of polyester as possible." THERESA MCKENNEY Director of Sustainability and Government Affairs, NEMO

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