Archroma, global leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, recently celebrated 8 years of leading the way to a sustainable world, with break-through innovations and solutions aimed at creating added value sustainable for its partners, consumers and the planet. Archroma came to life on 1st October 2013 from textile, paper and emulsions businesses acquired from Clariant by SK Capital Partners.
Building on decades of commitment to developing safer eco-friendlier chemistry, Archroma has become in the past 8 years a prominent name for more sustainable colors and performance, collaborating with leading brands such as Primark, G-Star, Patagonia, Esprit and many more.
More recently the Ellen McArthur Foundation selected Archroma’s plant-waste based EarthColors® for its online Biodiversity and Circular Economy case study library. “Such impact cannot be created overnight”, commented Heike van de Kerkhof, CEO. She explains: “Just a few years ago sustainability was considered by most industries as a ‘compliance’ topic. We at Archroma have always had a vision that sustainability is the right thing to do, and that it doesn’t have to come at the expense of cost efficiency or performance.”
Years after the Greenpeace ‘Detox’ campaign in 2011, and more recent events such as the climate school strikes of Greta Thunberg, the fast-growing plant-based movement and the pandemic, the general public has finally recognized the reality of the climate crisis and is demanding more responsible policies and supply chains, and safer products.
In this context, Archroma has become the go-to partner for many brands in fashion, outerwear, packaging or home decoration, looking to integrate sustainable innovations and solutions in their products.
In its very short life span, Archroma has introduced game-changing innovations, such as the EarthColors® made from non-edible plant waste from the food and herbal industry, Denisol® Pure, an indigo for aniline-free* denim, aniline being a category 2 carcinogen substance, and Smartrepel®, a PFC-free* water repellent solution. The company is also about to launch a new plant-based softener.
In parallel, Archroma has been helping its customers in addressing the growing expectations of the public in terms of keeping consumers, and the environment, safe, under the umbrella of “The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: Safe, efficient, enhanced, it’s our nature”.
The company started to develop holistic solutions designed to bring innovation and performance, whilst reducing the impacts on water, energy and other natural resources. The savings generated by these 70+ system solutions are demonstrated by Archroma’s proprietary One-Way Impact Calculator, a ground-breaking tool launched in 2012 and continuously upgraded to simulate and optimize the footprint of application processes.
For instance, Archroma recently launched Casual X Smart, a sulfur dyeing system for trendy wash-down effects to make clothes that look smart at home and at work. The colors won’t fade in the washing cycle, and the application process allows resource savings of up to 33% water, 21% energy and 35% chemical usage compared to a benchmark reactive & pigment garment dyeing.
With One Way, a brand can calculate how much impact their current production and the Archroma Way collection will have on water, energy, chemical, raw material or CO2 footprint.
Meanwhile, fashion, online shopping, food packaging, etc., are increasingly associated with air and water pollution. Brands are eager to implement sustainable solutions and demonstrate their impacts, especially CO2 reduction, in particular in a post-pandemic world where we can expect consumers to have no tolerance for green washing.
Heike van de Kerkhof: “Brands in fashion, food, home decor, or sportwear make ambitious pledges, and they want to honor them. They are therefore eager to understand how they can introduce new, exciting innovations with safer ingredients and a lower impact on resources. That is where we can help, with our eco-advanced ingredients and demonstrated resource-saving solutions. We can help them make a difference.”
For instance, Archroma estimate that the company helped**:
- Divert 1,250,000 kg of formaldehyde, a carcinogenic substance, from the textile supply chain with its systems ‘Bright Dream’ and ‘Stampit Safe’
- Remove 25,000 kg of aniline, a substance toxic for aquatic life and for denim workers, from the environment, with its ‘Pure Indigo Icon’ system based on Denisol® Pure
- Replace 450,000 kg of fossil fuel-based products, with its ‘Nature Bound’, ‘Rag N’ roll’ and Love Nature x Earthcolours® systems that use plant-based renewable ingredients;
- Save 7,740,000,000 liters of water and reduce 420,000,000 Kg of CO2with its Deep Dive 2.0, Dark Bliss 2.0, Smart Start and Smoothas Iron (Fashion) systems that allow massive resource savings in cotton items;
- Divert 21,000 tons of chemicals and 14,000 tons of acetic acid, a hazardous substance, from the packaging supply chain, with its Boxing Clever dyeing solution.
“We calculated all these savings with the One Way Impact Calculator”, Heike van de Kerkhof explained. “We are very proud of these very tangible positive impacts for the consumers and the planet, and we are looking forward to creating many more in the years to come. Because it’s our nature.”
