Did you know that global fiber and fabric production – powered by the Asia-Pacific region- can use as much as 200 tons of water to dye just one ton of fabric for the apparel industry? Which amounts to only 1,400 pieces of clothing.
Roughly 17% to 20% of global industrial water pollution is because of dying and treating fabrics.
Twine Solution, an Israeli digital dyeing start-up is hoping to change the global textile industry by creating a simple thread to assist with environmental sustainability and material waste.
Twine is the first company in the world to create a technology that is capable of digitally dyeing threads that penetrate into the fibers itself, giving clothing manufacturers the quality threading they need.
“The textile industry is the second-largest in the world, but is far behind much smaller industries when it comes to digital technology,” Twine vice president of product and marketing Yariv Bustan told The Jerusalem Post. “Graphic art is very advanced and textile is about 15 years behind. We need to bring digital technology into this industry.
Based in Petah Tikva and co-founded by identical twin brothers Alon and Erez Moshe, Twine offers the clothing industry multiple digital solutions that help increase efficiency, boost sustainability and improve the personalization of garments.
The digital thread dyeing machine only requires regular electricity and ink from the company.
Unlike most polluting methods taken in order to dye fabric, Twine’s machine does not use water at all, and is able to produce threads for embroidery, knitting and sewing.
By being able to digital dye threads to meet customer needs, the system itself also cuts down on the amount of textile waste that is normally produced through traditional supply chains. An estimated 12.7 million tons of textile waste is sent to landfills throughout the US on an annual basis.
“Dyeing is a long and complicated process that is done in huge vats, and since you dye only one color at a time – and a lot of it – it forces the entire supply chain to demand large minimum order quantities,” said Bustan. “You need to buy a lot of thread and store it. Even if you need a small amount, you have to buy a lot. Eventually, you’ll throw away 20% to 60% of the order.”
The company also has a digital solution called “SnapMarch.” Which is a dye-to-match smartphone applications that enables users to identify fabric colors.
