As part of the environmental activities at YKK Kurobe Factory, YKK, the leading designer of fastening solutions, is working on the development of ECO-DYE technology, which is said to allow the company to reduce the amount of water used in the zipper dyeing process almost to zero, by utilizing the supercritical fluid dyeing (SFD) technology.

Through its main business, YKK Group is aiming at contributing to a sustainable society by manufacturing and creating new value in cooperation with local communities, customers and employees, the company reports.

Water resources

Currently, YKK Group operates in 71 countries and regions, including Japan. Nowadays, when there is a strong demand to address environmental problems and strengthen chemical management, the company believes there is increased demand to protect worldwide water resources essential for human life and needed for industrial use.

In the future the problem of water resources is expected to grow. For the apparel industry, major issues include the reduction of water usage, elimination of discharge of hazardous chemicals and waste water in production processes.

The apparel industry is taking proactive actions to address these issues. For example, major apparel brands, are joining the Detox campaign aimed at the elimination of water pollution and discharge of hazardous substances.

SFD technology

As a leading company in the manufacture of fastening products, YKK pays attention to environmental aspects of the production process. Reducing water usage and eliminating wastewater in the manufacturing process of fastening products is becoming increasingly important for the manufacturer.

YKK is currently working to apply SFD technology, a method for zipper dyeing. This technology uses carbon dioxide (CO2) as a dyeing medium that makes it possible to reduce water use to nearly zero and avoids wastewater problems.

In addition, carbon dioxide (CO2) used can be collected and recycled. Another advantage of using SFD is that it does not require drying, and therefore is expected to contribute to the reduction of energy use, the company reports.

ECO-DYE technology

YKK is now testing and working on their further development of ECO-DYE technology for mass production. As of January 2015, commercialization and actual release date of ECO-DYE products has yet to be determined.

www.ykkfastening.com