Italian company turns textile waste into colour powders
29/10/2018
The company was founded in the town of Biella, an area with rich textile heritage, in 1992 by Roberto Venier.
“The long-term goal for Officina+39’s R&D centre was always to invent a game-changer – one that could impact the whole textiles industry,” explains Andrea Venier, son of the founder. “And in the end, we found our inspiration very close to home.”
This inspiration came courtesy of a family friend, who had a spinning unit for regenerated yarn. While visiting, Andrea Venier noticed that there was powder coming from the machines in the unit. He took some as a sample and found that it could be used as a pigment, although not one of a high quality.
Officina+39’s research and development team was tasked with converting this waste product into a uniform solid powder. After eighteen months of works they came up with an eight-step process that could transform textile fibres into powder. These powders were given the name Recycrom.
Recycrom coloured powders can be used as pigment dye for fabrics and garments made of cotton, wool, nylon and many other natural and artificial fibres and blends, according to Officina+39. They can be applied through various methods, including exhaustion dyeing, printing and spraying.
The resulting colours are said to give a very natural look, which the company says is “very on-trend”. It also offers brands the chance to make custom dyes from their own scraps and textile waste.
Recycrom received the Keyhouse Hightex Award at the Munich Fabric Start exhibition in 2017. The products have been applied to two capsule collections by Italian retailers OVS.
“As interest in this start-up technology increases exponentially, Recycrom is now set for truly mass volumes,” Officina+39 has said.
Image credit: Martin Scott Powell.
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