The  EcoWash  project    José  Machado  &  Gabriel  Pontes  

 Diversify  produc6on  towards  high-­‐quality,  speciality  

and  high-­‐tech  tex6les  and  niche  products    Lodz,  Poland  

General  Context  

 Pizarro is a Portuguese textile company, doing full package services for large brands, retailers and dealing with EU and US markets mainly.      

General  Context  

•  Capacity of washing 25,000 garments per day; •  Dyeing capacity – 10,000 kg per day; •  Finishing and logistics -15 000 Denim + 15 000

Knits/wool/mohair per day; •  Printing – about 10,000 per day; •  650 workers

Silicosis Kills 50th Worker At Turkish Denim Sandblasting Factory Your sandblasted Armani jeans could be killing people. (http://www.greenprophet.com)

Turkey: Sandblasting Jeans for ‘Distressed’ Look Proved Harmful for Textile Workers Sandblasting denim jeans has long been banned in Europe and the U.S.

(http://www.nytimes.com)

Jeans with a distressed, already-worn look have been popular since the 1990s, but one way the effect is achieved is by blasting them with sand - and this can give factory workers an incurable lung disease. So should we stop buying them? (http;//www.bbc.co.uk)

General  Context  

Pizarro  was  the  first  to  discover  a  technology  with  an  Italian  and  Spanish  partners  capable  of  crea6ng  the  vintage  look  in  any  kind  of  garment:    •   with  0%  chemicals,    •  without  the  sandblas6ng  process  and    •  saving  water.      So  the  process  is  100%  ecological.    

General  Context  

The   idea   started   in   2011   and  when  some  brands  responded  to   an   incident   in   Turkey   and  the   health   problems   that  emerged   due   to   the   use   of  silica  in  the  sand.    

 

General  Context   With a manufacturer in Italy, they both start exploring ice. In 2012, they receive the first Icelite machine in the world. The machine uses CO2 to create ice that is store at -70°C

Those small particles are used to create an abrasion blast that gives the vintage look to the garments.

General  Context  

The new ICELITE Process

General  Context  

The effects and final look that in the garments is due, is not only with the Icelite, but also mixing ozone washes and laser washes. It is called EcoWash.

The savings are significant:

- 70 litres of water per garment and 150 grams of chemicals per garment

General  Context   The company will also be in a position to use the pure recovered CO2 to treat the wastewater created by other textile processes.

This effect takes a huge economical effect to the company lowering significantly the consumption of natural gas.

If the needs of the machine are passed the company can sell the excess CO2.

 Stakeholders  Involved  

•  Own  investment  in  R&D  •  Ins6tute  of  Design  •  Several   Scien6fic   Projects   with   University   of   Minho   (Chemistry  

and  Textile  Engineering)  •  CITEVE  •  Operational programme ON.2 - O Novo Norte - North

Portugal Regional Operational Programme 2007/2013 •  National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)

2007/2013 and the new cycle of the European Union structural funding for Portugal.

•  Two  partners  (Spain  and  Italy)    

Financial  Framework  •  200 000 euros. •  The goal is to build new machines and the budget is 1

million euros. •  By year, It is estimated that the process saves 600,000 kgs

of chemicals and 280 million litters of water. •  It has also a huge contribution to save the environment and

to increase human like qualify. •  Pizarro has maintained 650 jobs in the last few years

despite the international and national crisis. •  On the other hand, Pizarro has developed its own R&D

department, searching for innovative production processes.

PLUSTEX  policy  priority  area?    

It has a significant impact in the policy priority area ”Diversify production towards high-quality, speciality and high-tech textiles and niche products” but also in “Fostering eco-innovation and social responsibility in the sector”.

Success  Factors  The company was awarded in the tender Inovatêxtil 2013 in category “services” organized by CITEVE. The Eco-Wash process was distinguished with the Icelite process. CITEVE organized the competition in 2012 and 2013.

The main objectives of the competition were captivating competitors for the presentation of new ideas, materials, products, applications, services and business concepts.

There are difficulties in getting financial support through European Projects or national ones. It is also important to reduce bureaucracy.

Difficulties

The market becomes more and more exigent.

It is very important to discover new forms, more ecological and efficient, to improve production processes    

Remarks on durability

Added Value •  Ability to bring companies to innovate and improve

business process •  Ability to stimulate innovation and develop new industrial

process •  The promotion of knowledge exchange and innovation

through the universities, municipalities, non-profit organizations, technological parks and government

•  Reducing the risk of spoiling the environment and harm the health of workers

GPs should be relevant to any appropriate organization

•  Not all companies are able to invest in R & D. •  There are many public and private structures, able to

support business. •  There is a political will. •  Access to finance and support is difficult to achieve. •  Companies are beginning to collaborate between them •  The market requires finding foreign markets. •  This has helped companies to have foreign partners

more easily. •  It is a way to preserve jobs and to be in a competitive

market.

 Conditions and requirements of GPs transferability

It is an example of how public policy and funding could be used to potentiate innovative ideas. It is also an example on how collaboration between public and private organizations can help in developing innovative and ecological process. The main challenge to several companies is in making investments in R & D with the support of local entities.

THANK  YOU  FOR  YOUR  ATTENTION  

José  Machado  &  Gabriel  Pontes  University  of  Minho  &  AMAVE    

Guimarães,  PORTUGAL