W. L. Gore & Associates reached a first key milestone on its Fabrics Division’s journey towards the goal of eliminating PFCs of Environmental Concern from the life cycle of the large majority of its consumer fabrics portfolio by 2020. This goal was announced in February 2017.
At the Outdoor Retailer Show in Denver, Colo., Gore will present its GORE-TEX 2-Layer jackets that utilize a DWR treatment (Durable Water Repellent) free of PFC EC. On display will be jackets manufactured by customers The North Face, Marmot, Black Diamond and Outdoor Research.
In addition, the outdoor jackets shown at the booth reflect a second big step forward in Gore’s efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of its consumer fabrics products: they all are manufactured with Gore laminates utilizing face-textiles made from recycled materials – another key initiative within the Fabrics Division’s sustainability strategy.
Using recycled materials helps reduce the amount of plastic waste that otherwise would end up in landfills or incineration, said the company. The recycled nylon is currently sourced from pre-consumer waste while its recycled polyester stems from used PET bottles.
Bernhard Kiehl, Sustainability Leader for Gore’s fabrics division: “The GORE-TEX jackets shown at our booth have a PFC EC 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.”
While Gore‘s current consumer fabrics product collection for the Autumn/Winter 2018 includes more than a dozen GORE-TEX laminates that are manufactured with face-textiles made from recycled materials, this number is expected to almost triple by the Autumn/Winter 2019 collection.
Also ready to be rolled-out by customers for the Autumn/Winter collection 2019 is another innovation: solution-dyed face-textiles. Solution dyeing is a technology that – compared to conventional yarn dyeing processes – saves up to 60% 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 colored and ready to be woven into fabrics.
Gore 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 Application Engineer, explains: “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 color-fastness to light – which will allow consumers to enjoy the brilliance of colors 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.”
