Taiwan Textile - Functional and Eco-Friendly Fabrics
Dec
07,
2012
Taiwan’s textile industry is focusing more on producing functional and eco-friendly fabrics.
“Taiwan’s textile industry stands for the first choice of internationally well known sportswear and outdoor retailers while they are sourcing functional as well as environmentally friendly textiles,” said Justin Huang, Secretary General of Taiwan Textile Federation.
Da Ai Technology is one such Taiwanese textile company that specializes in eco-friendly products. Promoting the concept of “green living”, the company works to effectively reduce the consumption of resources during the process of producing yarn using recycled material. Da Ai has managed to develop recycled polyester yarn similar to that made in Japan. The firm also produces high quality eco-friendly products made from 100% recycled PET bottles.
Da Ai Technology maintains the original color of the recycled polyester yarn, which means the yarn does not contain post-production dye. The products are made with light, breathable and comfortable fabric. The qualities of these eco products are the same as products made with virgin materials, but with enhanced functionalities. Furthermore, it saves about 84% of energy consumption, and reduces carbon emissions by about 77%, compared to using virgin materials.
The quality and functions of Da Ai’s products have great potential in the global market. The Da Ai brand is registered in 46 countries around the world. It is also the first non-profit company dedicated to producing eco-friendly products and donating 100% of its net proceeds to charity.
Da Ai Technology’s signature product, Eco Polo Shirt, was awarded the 2012 Taiwan Excellence Award. The shirt was also awarded international certifications including Global Recycling Standard certification from the Netherland’s Peterson Control Union, Taiwan Green Mark, the Carbon and Water Footprint Certifications from both Germany’s TÜV Rheinland and EPA. Da Ai exports its textile products to China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Australia, and USA.
Another Taiwan firm that focuses on eco-friendly textiles is Singtex Industrial Company. Since 2009, Singtex has taken coffee grounds from two major coffee store chains and used it to make jackets, shoes, handbags and pants. According to the company, coffee grounds cut odors, which allow clothing to dry faster than usual, and resist ultraviolet light. The idea came from the fact that coffee grounds are odor eaters. Singtex spent four years doing research to make the waste work in fabrics as well.
Singtex was founded in 1989 and has been producing more valuable but eco-friendly fabrics since 1994. Singtex’ fabrics use approximately 1.5% of neno-coffee grounds in its yarn, and all of its functional S.Cafe fabrics contain more than 35% of coffee yarn. But the most eco-friendly aspect of Singtex's fabrics is the processing methods. The company uses a high pressure but low temperature method to make the coffee yarn which doesn’t produce any CO2.
Since innovating its S.Cafe fabrics, Singtex has won a host of awards including the Innovation gold medal /special award of Nurnberg, Innovation Award of Geneva, Innovation Gold medal of Pittsburg, Taiwan Top 100 Brand, and Taiwan Excellence awards. Branding Taiwan Award. The company has also applied for 34 patents since its founding.
Singtex’ clients include the shoemakers Asics and Timberland and women’s underwear designer Wacoal.The firm exports its products to North America, Europe, Japan, Korea, and China.
The annual production value of Taiwan’s textiles reached NT$500.8 billion (roughly USD $17.2 billion) in 2011, which represented an increase of 3.8% over a year ago. Taiwan's textile industry is expected to see output value surge 6% from last year to exceed NT$530 billion this year. Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs has selected Taiwan's textile industry as one of five pilot industries for upgrading.
Source：miami.taiwantrade.com.tw