• Clariant Chemicals (India) Limited

Advanced Denim Technology Fabric

Clariant has announced that its Advanced denim Technology has been honoured by two of the prestigious 2012 innovation awards organised by icis. The production of denim fabric usually involves huge quantities of water. Clariant’s Advanced Denim technology simplifies the finishing and dyeing of a fabric that accounts for some 14% of global cotton production. In total, when employing the Clariant’s Advanced Denim processes, Denim-Ox and Pad/Sizing Ox, water consumption can be reduced by as much as 92%, while 63% of the usual cotton waste is avoided and around 30% can be saved in energy costs too compared to a traditional denim processes. Clariant calculated that if Clariant’s Advanced Denim technology were adopted in the production of 25% of jeans worldwide, it would save 62 million m3 of water/year, the equivalent of the water consumption of 1.7 million people. The technology would also eliminate the need to treat 8.3 million m3/year of wastewater, 220 million kWh of power would be saved and the carbon footprint of the industry and its users in CO2 emissions reduced accordingly. Clariant was one of the first companies to be awarded an EU Ecolabel for its illustration collection of jeans in recognition of the sustainability benefits of Advanced Denim.

It is the second year in a row that Clariant is honoured by the leading international information provider for the chemical industry. In 2011, Clariant received a special mention for its EasyWhite Tan process, a fundamental advance in tanning allowing a simpler, safer way to tan leather while reducing water and chemical consumption and waste water salinity, compared to established tanning technologies. This process allows a heavy metal free** tanning of leather answering requests by the final consumers for an environmental sound product. Advanced Denim and EasyWhite Tan are only two examples of Clariant’s constant flow of innovations that are safer for the user and gentler on the environment. Despite the challenging economic environment, Clariant intensified its efforts in 2011 to achieve sustainable management. The group is optimising a large number of activities to meet sustainability objectives and, accordingly, in 2011 Clariant achieved further goals to reduce emissions and protect the environment. In addition, Clariant has set itself concrete environmental goals and aims to reduce by 2020 energy consumption in the Clariant Group by 30 per cent and CO2 emissions and waste accumulation by 45 per cent, each compared with 2005 levels.