New "Ecotextiles"Released

Two Japanese major textile manufacturers, Nisshinbo Industries, Inc. and Toray Industries, Inc., released new textile products woven with vegetable fibers in December 2003.

Nisshinbo Industries succeeded in extracting fibers from banana tree stems that are ordinarily disposed of after harvesting. This is world's first successful use of banana fiber for commercial textile production.

The new textile is a mixed-spun fabric composed of 30 per cent banana fiber and 70 per cent cotton. The manufacturer is now engaged in the experimental production of a 100-percent banana-fiber textile.

Professor Morishima of Nagoya City University initiated the research and development project, called the "banana green gold project," in 1998 in Haiti, as part of an official development assistance (ODA) project. The manufacturer joined the project in 1999 and jointly studied the weaving technology.

Banana fiber absorbs water very well. It is also light, flexible, and glossy. On top of these essential qualities, Nisshinbo emphasizes the fiber's merits from the perspective of the protection of the environment, because it offers an effective way to utilize the banana tree stems that would otherwise be thrown away as industrial waste, no chemicals are used at the stage of dissolving the fiber to prepare raw materials, and also because the textile is biodegradable. Nisshinbo plans to sell the "ecotextile" to clothing manufacturers for use in casual clothes. Note: The product samples are available only in Japan. They cannot respond to inquiries from other countries at present.

Toray Industries Inc., on the other hand, has developed a textile using bamboo and recently released a compound textile named "Soutake." The textile is a mixed-spun fabric of bamboo fiber (over 20 percent) and synthetic fibers such as polyester and acrylic. Bamboo fiber has a variety of advantages. It absorbs and releases twice the moisture of cotton, enjoys high heat conductivity and gives fabric a refreshing feel. By taking advantage of this material's smooth and comfortable texture, Toray plans to promote sales of the textile for use in outer and inner clothing, and as lining material.

Before the release of these two ecoproducts, Kanebo Ltd., another major textile manufacturer in Japan, had already succeeded in making a textile from corn and put it on the market. The product, named Lactron, is a biodegradable synthetic fabric now used in tree planting, gardening and other uses.

Toray announced that it would promote the sales of its new ecoproduct based on the view that it answers the demand of consumers who want to do something to protect the global environment. Indeed, the development of these ecotextiles by Japan's major textile manufacturers reflects consumer demand for not only function and comfort of products, but also for attention to the global environment.



Posted: 2003/01/23 05:38:50 AM
Japanese version