On December 2nd, 2024 the pigment-based dyeing process PIGMENTURA was awarded with the German Ecodesign Award in the Product category.
Inspired by Inditex, the CHT Group developed PIGMENTURA by CHT, an innovative and sustainable dyeing process that reduces water consumption by up to 96 %.
The German Ecodesign Award honors designers, companies and students from Germany and Europe whose work make an important contribution to the sustainable transformation of the German economy and society. The award has been granted annually since 2012 by the German Ministry for the Environment and the German Environment Agency in cooperation with the International Design Center Berlin.
Dr Annegret Vester, Chief Sustainability Officer at CHT, about PIGMENTURA: “Developing chemical products and processes that make textile production more sustainable is of utmost importance to us. Our development departments have always worked together with our colleagues in application technology and our customers to make energy-intensive and water-intensive dyeing processes more sustainable.
PIGMENTURA is an example of how completely new processes can be developed when existing processes are being rethought: The starting point was traditional pigment dyeing where the pigments have to be “bound” to the textile using special components. PIGMENTURA follows the idea of adsorbing pigments on the surface and thus simplifying the process. It was a highlight when it became clear what great savings potential can be achieved in the dyeing process with PIGMENTURA. The classic reactive dyeing of textiles is associated with very high energy and water consumption.
There were numerous obstacles to overcome during the development phase, as each individual process step had to be developed to process maturity. Added to this is the diversity of textiles, which leads to significant changes in dyeing behavior, which we have now been able to standardize with PIGMENTURA.
PIGMENTURA by CHT is already in use in the fashion industry worldwide. This makes rivers cleaner, as lower water consumption also results in less wastewater. We are on the way to active environmental protection in the global textile industry.”
