Covestro Joins Hands with Textile Companies to Reduce Carbon Emissions

Recently, Covestro announced a partnership with Chinese textile technology company Huafon Group and green fiber technology company Sialon Technology to jointly develop a more sustainable solution for the production of high-quality sports shoes. The three parties will use a recycled fabric made from Covestro's CYCLONE recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) yarn for the upper material and selectively coated with Huafon's HAPTIC technology.

It is understood that in this process, Huafeng used some bio-based water-based polyurethanes under the Covestro INSQIN product series, and half of the carbon content of this product comes from bio-based raw materials. Compared to production using conventional fossil-based water-based polyurethane and virgin polyester fabrics, the new solution can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 230 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per pair of shoes.

Wu Xiaomin, global marketing manager for textile coatings at Covestro, said: "Improving sustainability will not affect the durability, appearance and comfort of shoe uppers. Combined with Huafon's HAPTIC printing technology, the three-dimensional printing effect can be applied to textile fabrics. Sneakers bring stylish design and performance.”

Impranil eco DLS, a partially bio-based polyurethane part of Covestro's INSQIN water-based textile coatings product line, will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 60 grams of CO2-equivalent per pair of shoes in this collaborative solution. In addition, the use of fabric uppers based on recycled polyester yarns can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 170 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per pair of shoe production.

Torsten Pohl, Global Head of Covestro's Textile Coatings business, said: "The way in which some of our INSQIN bio-based polyurethanes combined with Huafon's HAPTIC printing technology for recycled polyester fabrics highlights how partners in the value chain can collaborate to create more sustainable Products that last.” Thomas Schmidt, Innovation Director of Huafon, said: “Sustainability is the key to Huafon’s market success. With the help of some of Covestro’s bio-based waterborne polyurethanes, we are able to introduce more renewable raw materials into HAPTIC coatings, further improve its sustainability.”