Archroma, a global leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, today honed its vision of the future of the apparel and textile industry with the announcement of “PLANET CONSCIOUS+”, a roadmap designed to support brands and mills to chart their sustainability journey. “Over the past decade, Archroma has been on a mission to lead the textile industry towards a more sustainable future. But the world’s challenges are escalating – from climate change to economic and geopolitical instability. We believe that the time is right for us to realign our vision to guide the next phase of our development. ‘PLANET CONSCIOUS+’ encapsulates both our responsibility and our potential as a company that touches and colors people’s lives every day, all around the world,” Mark Garrett, Group CEO, Archroma, said.
“With the industry’s most extensive product portfolio and a comprehensive global footprint, Archroma has the resources and drive to go beyond the status quo and advance what’s possible for apparel and textile brands on multiple fronts at the same time,” Paul Cowell, Vice President of Innovation, Marketing, Brand Engagement and Sustainability for Archroma Textile Effects, explained. “The introduction of ‘PLANET CONSCIOUS+’ deepens our commitment to innovation and partnership and sharpens our focus on consumers and the environment to bring about meaningful change with pace and at scale.”
“PLANET CONSCIOUS+” has six dimensions, the first four of which have been rolled out over the past few months:
• SUPER SYSTEMS+: Powerful end-to-end systems that combine processing solutions and intelligent effects, SUPER SYSTEMS+ deliver measurable environmental impact, more durable colors and effects, and cleaner chemistry as compared to the current market offering. This allows brands and mills to select the impact they want to achieve in line with their sustainability goals.
• SAFE EDGE+: Groundbreaking initiative represents a major commitment to providing a roadmap for compliance and cleaner chemistries for use in the textile industry by combining The Safe Edge platform with Foundation+. Foundation+, Archroma’s beyond-compliance portfolio, is a curated selection of Archroma products that utilize innovative technologies to either design out hazardous or regulated substances or reduce them by more than 95% compared to the current industry standard limits.
• ONE WAY+: Combining Archroma’s One Way Impact Calculator, a world-first online tool for sustainable value chain mapping, with its expert-led Sustainability Improvement Program (SIP), ONE WAY+ helps mills and brands overcome their specific challenges with products and tools that offers the highest operational excellence and productivity, achieves savings of resources such as water, energy, and creates differentiation with value-added end-products.
• COLOR MANAGEMENT+: An advanced color design and development solution, COLOR MANAGEMENT+ helps mills and brands work together for improved sustainability. It incorporates the industry’s largest off-the-shelf color atlas selection alongside color standards created with Archroma’s SUPER SYSTEMS+ for reduced environmental impact and consistent and accurate color reproduction.
The remaining two pillars of “PLANET CONSCIOUS+” are being introduced today to underscore that innovation and transparency are the cornerstones of the Archroma way of working.
• INNOVATION+: Archroma brings together science, our technological expertise and in-depth market, customer, and regulatory knowledge to create groundbreaking solutions that have a positive environmental impact. To accelerate the shift to a circular economy and help manufacturers use resources more efficiently, Archroma’s research and development teams across Americas, Asia and Europe focus on innovating for cleaner chemistry and durable effects.
• COMMUNICATION+: By providing authentic, fact-based information to all stakeholders, Archroma helps improve transparency across the value chain. This enables mills and brands to communicate their sustainability goals and achievements with confidence and navigate issues like regulatory complexity and consumer skepticism.
“To truly make a difference in our fast-paced world, innovation must be accompanied by accountability and trust. We work with brands and manufacturers to develop and produce end-products that are safer than available market alternatives and made in a more sustainable and efficient way—and we give them the tools to measure their environmental impact and talk about their contribution with evidence-backed data,” Mr. Cowell said.
