As a part of environmental activities at YKK Kurobe (Japan) Factory, YKK is developing an “ECO-DYE” approach that, utilizing the supercritical fluid dyeing (“SFD”) technology, allows it to reduce almost to zero the amount of water used in zipper’s dyeing process.
In the future the problem of water resources is expected to grow. For the apparel industry, major issues include reduction of water usage, elimination of discharge of hazardous chemicals and waste water in the production process. The apparel industry is taking proactive actions to address these issues. For example, major apparel brands, which include YKK customers, are joining Detox campaign aimed at elimination of water pollution and discharge of hazardous substances.
YKK is currently working to apply SFD technology, a new dyeing technology, for zipper dyeing. This technology uses carbon dioxide (CO2) as a dyeing medium that makes it possible to reduce water use to nearly zero and avoid wastewater problem. In addition, carbon dioxide (CO2) used can be collected and reused. Another advantage of using SFD is that it does not require drying, that is expected to contribute to reduction of energy use.
YKK is now testing and working further on development of “ECO-DYE” technology for mass production. As of January 2015, commercialization and an actual release date of ECO-DYE™ products are yet to be determined.
