ITMA SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION AWARD 2015
Industry Excellence Award Finalists
Berto Industria Tessile SRL, Italy – Matex® Eco Applicator (nominated by A.
Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG, Germany)
Berto Industria Tessile SRL was the pioneer in adopting the innovative technology by A. Monforts
Textilmaschinen for the finishing of their denim fabrics, prompting other companies in Germany,
Belgium, Turkey, Thailand, Pakistan, Portugal and more to follow suit.
A liquor application device with modern electronic control, the Matex® Eco Applicator allows for an
exact quantity of chemicals to be applied and a minimal amount of water to be used in the dyeing and
finishing process. The liquor is not applied to the fabric by dipping in a trough in the conventional way,
but by a thin coating using steel rollers.
The traditional padding process for finishing denim fabrics using a conventional padder requires liquor
absorption of 70 per cent, while the same finishing effects can be achieved using only 20-25 per cent
of liquor with the Matex® Eco Applicator. This leads to about 46 per cent in energy savings from the
subsequent drying process on a stenter and about 75 per cent less electricity required, in addition to a
huge reduction in the amount of waste water produced.
Gebrüder Otto GmbH & Co. KG – spinitsystems® (nominated by Mayer & Cie.
GmbH & Co. KG)
Gebrüder Otto, a leading yarn manufacturer in Europe, implemented the spinning and knitting
technology spinitsystems® to produce single jersey fabric using up to 35 per cent less energy
compared to the conventional process. As a spinning mill, Gebrüder Otto also produces the roving
bobbins which are processed on the Spinit machine and is able to closely monitor the raw material
quality to ensure an efficient production on the Spinit machine.
Mayer & Cie.’s innovation is a novel technology for knitwear manufacturing that reduces overall
production costs and energy consumption. spinitsystems® successfully combines ring spinning,
cleaning, winding and circular knitting in one unique process on a single unit, which is similar in size
to a conventional knitting machine. Knitwear is directly produced from fibre roving which is processed
on a drafting unit. Air jet nozzles apply false twist to the drafted strand of parallel fibres to carry it to
the knitting area, negating the need for a core filament and enabling the processing of pure raw
materials such as 100 per cent cotton. spinitsystems® is able to process a big variety of short-cut and
staple fibres. Raw materials in their pure form can be processed, such as 100 percent cotton just as
other natural and synthetic fibres or standard blends. The quality of the resulting fabric is of high
evenness, gives a soft hand and a voluminous touch. A very low fabric skew is an additional benefit in
the tailoring process and during end use.
Benefits of the spinitsystems® include:
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Lower carbon footprint, facilitated by less energy required to run the production process from
fibre roving to knitted fabric (including air conditioning and lighting of the mill).
Fly which has been collected through the extraction system on the Spinit machine can be
recycled back into the roving process.
No waxing of yarn is required in the spinit process as the drafted thread is immediately
delivered to the knitting area. Thus, no additional chemical compound, even if harmless, is
added to the process.
A high degree of automation result in less manual work and a lower noise level for staff.
Levi Strauss & Co. – NoStone® (nominated by Tonello)
Levi Strauss & Co. has started preliminary development work in their Plock facility in Poland using
Tonello’s NoStone® technology. They were able to achieve the same authentic vintage look on their
denim garments with the NoStone® process, but without the environmental, economic and
mechanical disadvantages. Details of the NoStone® technology will be released at a later date.