FELDKIRCHEN-WESTERHAM – Technical fabric brand, W L Gore, has announced new products which eliminate the use of PFCs of concern as well as using recycled materials. The business will present the jackets, manufactured by customers such as Berghaus, Haglöfs and Marmot, at the upcoming Outdoor Show in Friedrichshafen. The company says it is also looking to up its use of solution-dyed textiles which contribute to water savings and reduces CO2 emissions
The new jackets represent the first milestone on Gore’s move towards the goal of eliminating PFCs of Environmental Concern (PFCEC) from the life cycle of the large majority of its consumer fabrics portfolio by 2020.
In addition, the outdoor jackets are manufactured with Gore laminates utilising face-textiles made from recycled materials. Gore’s recycled nylon is currently sourced from pre-consumer waste while its recycled polyester stems from used PET bottles.
Bernhard Kiehl, Gore Fabrics´ sustainability leader said: “The Gore-Tex jackets shown at our booth have a PFCEC free DWR treatment and face-textiles made from recycled materials. They represent our strong intent to offer environmentally improved products. The positive feedback we have received from customers and consumers on our innovations motivates us to work even harder on developing further advanced material solutions. We continue our efforts to deliver fit-for-use products that provide the best possible combination of high performance, durability and a low environmental footprint.”
Also ready to be rolled-out by customers for the A/W season 2019 is the use of solution-dyed face-textiles. Solution dyeing is a yarn-dyeing technology that – compared to conventional dyeing processes – saves up to 60 per cent in water usage and significantly reduces CO2 emissions. During the solution-dyeing process, dyestuffs are mixed with the nylon or polyester pellets prior to spinning into yarn. The resulting yarn is permanently, deeply coloured and ready to be woven into fabrics.
Gore Fabrics has also developed a new textile backer that combines the advantages of solution dyeing and recycled content resulting in an offering of an additional range of 18 laminates with solution dyed content to Gore-Tex brand partners from 2019 onwards.
Thomas Kiebler, Gore Fabrics’ application engineer leader, said: “We seek to expand our share of solution-dyed textiles due to two compelling advantages: solution-dyeing helps reduce our environmental footprint and offers a performance benefit of superior colour-fastness to light – which will allow consumers to enjoy the brilliance of colours for longer than usual. And, as we know from our Life Cycle Assessment studies, using durable outerwear for a long time is the best thing you can do to reduce its impact on the environment.”