MASON, Ohio — January 4, 2017 — Downlite — a down and feather processor and supplier of responsibly-sourced performance fills to the outdoor, home furnishings and hospitality markets — recently unveiled its new wastewater recovery system that allows Downlite to recycle and reuse up to 99 percent of the water used to clean and sanitize its down and feather fills — saving up to 40 million gallons of water annually.

Downlite partnered with Ohio-based water-treatment specialists, Artesian Capital Partners (ACP), who designed and constructed the system, and now operates it off-site.

“Water is the new oil,” said Josh Werthaiser, Downlite CFO. “With growing concerns over water scarcity and increasingly stringent municipal water-treatment requirements, we took on this significant and complex initiative, which took over a year, in our endeavor to become a greener company.”

Downlite’s down processing facility based just outside of Cincinnati, has the capacity to supply more than 100,000 lbs. of clean and ready down fill material per week, which requires a large quantity of water to ensure the raw materials have been sufficiently cleaned and sterilized.

“We use up to 120,000 gallons of water per day when our three giant washers are in use to ensure high-quality cleaning,” said Kevin Borgquist, Downlite director of Processing/Sourcing. “Since the system was installed in October, we’ve saved about eight million gallons of water.”

How the wastewater recovery system works

Waste water from the down processing machines travels through Downlite’s 65,000 square foot plant to the treatment system and into an aerobic basin to remove organic waste. The water then moves to membrane filtration to remove any remaining waste. The clean water is stored and sent through ozone disinfection before it goes back to the plant for reuse. The sludge recovered from filtration is gathered and composted.

Downlite’s wastewater recovery system is the latest in a series of ongoing environmental and sustainability initiatives, which include installing LED lighting in its plants and office buildings, adherence to bluesign® certification and down traceability, and the development of TDS and RDS down standards.

“We are always looking at how we can minimize environmental impact, and what Downlite can do about it,” said Werthaiser.

Posted January 4, 2017

Source: Downlite

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — January 3, 2017 — UniFirst Corp. facilities in Tampa, Fla., and Tulsa, Ok., are the company’s newest recipients of TRSA Hygienically Clean Food Safety certification, reflecting their commitment to best management practices (BMPs) in laundering as verified by TRSA inspection and their capability to produce hygienically clean textile product cleanliness as quantified by ongoing microbial testing.

The certification confirms a laundry’s dedication to compliance and processing garments and other textile products using BMPs as described in its quality assurance documentation, the focal point for TRSA inspectors’ evaluation of critical control points that minimize risk.

This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results that verify textiles cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards, and BMPs for servicing animal processing, dairies, fruit/vegetable, bakeries, grain and other food and beverage industry segments.

UniFirst now has 14 TRSA Hygienically Clean Food Safety certified facilities, more than any other textile services operator. In addition to those in Tampa and Tulsa, these are located in Stockton and Ontario, Calif.; Stratford, Conn.; Albany, Ga.; Boston; Landover, Md.; Charlotte and Kernersville, N.C.; Lebanon and Nashua, N.H.; Amarillo, Texas; and Richmond, Va.

The TRSA Hygienically Clean Food Safety protocol examines a laundry’s Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) practices, including its techniques for:

• Conducting hazard analysis;
• Determining CCPs, monitoring their control, and corrections if required;
• Validating and verifying HACCP system effectiveness; and
• Documenting and record-keeping to show ongoing conformance.

Inspection and re-inspection verify laundry practices including washing procedures (detergent formulas, temperature, disinfectant, pH, extraction), drying, garment inspection and transportation. Each certified laundry plant’s operational flowchart is evaluated, ensuring these procedures (as well as pickup, unloading and sorting of soiled items and sorting of clean laundry) are mapped. Additionally, employees’ use of personal protective equipment is documented.

Inspectors also evaluate practices relevant to handling and processing textile products used in food manufacturing/processing establishments for adherence to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) directives.

“More and more, we’re seeing our customers in food-related industries looking for third-party validation that our specialized Product Protection Process and our hygienically clean standards are consistent with HACCP guidelines,” said Adam Soreff, director of marketing and communications at UniFirst, with headquarters based in Massachusetts. “Working with a Hygienically Clean Food Safety certified laundry helps reassure them that their managed uniform program is working in concert with their own food safety protocols to help them ensure food safety for consumers.”

Posted January 3, 2017

Source: TRSA

HONG KONG  — January 3, 2017 — Yarn Expo has increased in stature in the global yarn and fibre market over recent years, and as such, is expected to feature more exhibitors at its next edition. The 2017 spring edition of Yarn Expo will be held from March 15-17 in hall 5.1 of the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), and its scale is expected to jump by 20 percent, occupying 18,000 square meters (m²) (2016: 15,000 m²), to accommodate the increase in exhibitor participation. Nearly 360 exhibitors (2016: 309) will bring together some of the world’s highest quality yarn and fiber products, such as natural and blended yarns including cotton, wool, flax/regenerated flax, silk, and man-made fibers and yarns, as well as specialty products including elastic, and fancy and blended yarns.

Fair’s diverse buyer profile attracts strong international exhibitor participation

In 2016, Yarn Expo Spring attracted 20,527 buyers from 77 countries and regions, creating an unrivalled platform for exhibitors to reach all kinds of buyers from around the world. To take advantage of this diverse buyer profile, a number of international suppliers have already confirmed their participation this year. “Yarn Expo engages a broad range of buyers, and it’s an ideal stage for us to introduce the company and products to our target buyers as well as to establish solid business relationships with them,” said Peter Dong, senior manager of Birla Jingwei Fibres Co Ltd (Aditya Birla Group). After the rewarding results in the last autumn fair, Birla Planet will return to present a series of Birla Spunshades, Birla Micro-Viscose and Birla Micro Modal products.

Furthermore, the Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) will once again organise the India Pavilion to feature India’s top cotton yarn and fibre suppliers. Ravindranathan Narayanasamy, Director of TEXPROCIL also shared his appreciation of the fair. He said: “Yarn Expo is an important meeting point for Indian suppliers and importers from all over the world. The fair is helping Indian suppliers meet with new customers from different parts of Mainland China and outside too such as Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe, the US and elsewhere.” Besides the India Pavilion, the returning Pakistan Zone as well as exhibitors from Uzbekistan and Vietnam will also showcase competitive cotton yarns, elastic yarns and eco products to diversify the sourcing options for buyers.

Meanwhile, a wide range of high quality synthetic, knitting and metallic yarns will be brought by exhibitors from Indonesia, Korea, Singapore, Slovakia and Thailand to cater to the rapidly growing demand for these products in the global market.

Fancy Yarn Zone returns with impressive increase in exhibitor number

After the debut edition last spring, the Fancy Yarn Zone has quickly become one of the most popular product areas in Yarn Expo. Due to the rapidly growing use of fancy yarns, this zone’s exhibitor number is expected to double this year, hosting around 40 companies showcasing their latest collections of creative fancy yarns. Alongside the Fancy Yarn Zone are four returning display zones — Colourful Chemical Fibre Zone, Natural Cotton Zone, Quality Wool Zone and Green Linen Zone — where over 210 domestic exhibitors will exhibit a wide range of innovative fibres and yarns, such as nylon, viscose filament and renewable, recycled fibres and many more.

Last but not least, a trend area and a series of seminars will also take place during the three day fair to equip the industry with inspirational trend directions and the most up-to-date market information.

Together with Yarn Expo Spring 2017, four other textile trade fairs are held concurrently from March 15-17 in the same venue: Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Spring Edition, Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Spring Edition, PH Value and the China International Fashion Fair (CHIC).

The fair is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd; The Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; China Cotton Textile Association; China Wool Textile Association; China Chemical Fiber Association; China Bast & Leaf Fibres Textiles Association; and China Textile Information Centre.

Posted January 3, 2017

Source: Messe Frankfurt (HK)