H&M-backed UK start-up Alchemie seeks China distributor for water, energy-saving fabric dyeing machine to help fashion industry clean up its act
- Alchemie’s machine uses 95 per cent less water and 85 per cent less energy than traditional methods, says founder Alan Hudd
- The fashion industry produces nearly 20 per cent of global waste water and also accounts for about 10 per cent of carbon emissions
The waterless dyeing machine, similar to an inkjet printer, costs between US$1.2 million and US$1.5 million, uses 95 per cent less water and 85 per cent less energy than traditional methods, said Alan Hudd, the director and founder of the Cambridge, UK-based company, backed by Sweden’s H&M.
The conventional way to dye one tonne of polyester fabric generates over 30 tonnes of waste water, which needs expensive treatment facilities to prevent contaminating the environment, he said.
Alchemie’s technology is akin to inkjet printing, based on inspiration that struck Hudd during a business trip six years ago to Taizhou, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. A visit to a dye factory made him realise that there was an urgent need to find a more sustainable way to dye textiles.
“It was very clear that the industry had to change,” Hudd said. “The Chinese government was saying this can’t continue because the amount of contaminated waste water was just too massive to ignore.”