Public Funding for Stretchline (UK) Limited

The textile industry is one of the most polluting on the planet. It is responsible for almost 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions and is the \#2 source of chemical pollution; mainly due to the emission of dyestuffs and process chemicals. The energy consumption of the textile industry is attributable to the large volumes of heated water used in commercial dyeing processes, which have changed little in the 70 years since they were invented. This results in textile dyeing contributing to approximately 3% of global CO2 emissions - similar to aviation. As consumers and governments have recognised these issues, there is now significant and urgent pressure on the textile industry to change manufacturing methods to become more sustainable. Manufacturing methods are out-dated, with manufacturing located in low-cost countries, where energy intensive, polluting processes have been tolerated for many years. Severe cost pressure has ensured minimal investment in manufacturing technology and insufficient consideration of the local and global environmental impact. The textile industry is changing, as governments recognise the impact on their citizens of both climate change and chemical pollution. Consumers are also recognising the issue and demanding that brands take action to become more sustainable and address the accelerating effect that "Fast Fashion" has had on overall consumption. Major brands are now focusing on sustainability and urgently seeking new methods to manufacture their products that are less carbon intensive and reduce overall impact on the environment. To address this need, Alchemie Technology has developed a breakthrough textile dyeing process - Endeavour - which is aiming to revolutionise the process of textile dyeing by eliminating waste water and as a result, reducing the energy required for dyeing by over 85%. This will make a significant global impact; since textile dyeing currently accounts for around 3% of global CO2 emissions, implementation of the Endeavour process will have a significant effect on global CO2 emissions. The Endeavour technology also has the potential to make even more impact in the long term; the carbon footprint of textiles is expected to increase to 25% of the global total by 2050 due to increasing consumption. Endeavour, if implemented worldwide by 2050, would eliminate ~8% of the global total - comparable to eliminating the emissions of Europe. Stretchline is the world's \#1 producer of narrow-web elasticated fabric and a leader in sustainable textile manufacturing. Headquartered in the UK, Stretchline is a global group that manufactures textile products worldwide, including advanced manufacturing operations in the UK. Implementing Alchemie's Endeavour technology has the potential to revolutionise its operations with a dramatically more sustainable, flexible manufacturing platform. The aim of this project is to demonstrate that the Endeavour Waterless Smart Dyeing process can deliver dyed fabrics that meet Stretchline's requirements. This will enable the implementation of a breakthrough low carbon dyeing technology that can deliver in-market manufacturing capability with exceptional flexibility. This project will also enable manufacturing in the UK of high value textile products, including medical textiles for COVID-19 facemasks.