The PEF Textile Community, coordinated by Avantium, brings together renowned brand owners in the textile value chain:
- Antex is a textile group specialised in the production of synthetic yarns.
- BekaertDeslee is the world’s largest specialist in the development and production of mattress textiles, mattress covers and trendy sleep solutions
- Chamatex Group is a leading provider of textile solutions and founder of the Advanced Shoe Factory 4. 0
- Kvadrat is a leader in design innovation, producing contemporary quality textiles and textile-related products for architects, designers and private consumers around the world
- Salomon Group is a French manufacturer of sports equipment.
Each member of the community is committed to environmentally friendly processes and technologies. Within the PEF Textile Community they will further develop the use of PEF in their respective applications. Antex has already produced yarns made from PEF and expects that these can be produced by using existing PET spinning and texturing lines, which will make market introduction easy. The use of existing infrastructure, the recycling of PEF in existing PET streams and the favourable carbon footprint make PEF a logical polyester for sustainable textile products of the future.
Specific applications
The other members of the PEF Textile Community will use the PEF yarn samples in the coming period to investigate the potential of PEF fabric for their specific application. BekaertDeslee wants to evaluate the potential of PEF textiles as a biobased and circular solution in their mattress product portfolio. Chamatex Group wants to investigate PEF as a solution in its fabrics for various end markets, including the sports market. Kvadrat is impressed by the superior tensile properties in addition to the sustainability benefits of PEF and wants to explore the possibilities for its high-end textiles. Salomon, which wants to make outdoor products that are both innovative and sustainable, is interested in exploring “plant to plastic” applications in sports.
Market potential
Bas Blom, Managing Director Avantium Renewable Polymers: “A disruptive innovation like PEF can bring about real change, but it requires pioneers. The five renowned companies of the PEF Textile Community are willing to be the first to jump into new solutions. We look forward to continuing and expanding our cooperation for many years to come. This will help us to better understand the huge market potential of PEF, as the world’s next generation of sustainable polyester.”
Image: Shisuka/Shutterstock
