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Textile industry gets green makeover

By Yu Tianyu (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-07 10:33

Customers are shopping at a Shanghai textile trade fair on April 1, 2008. Viscose, a new environmentally friendly fiber, could help the industry gain a positive boost in its drive to become greener.[Asianewsphoto]

The textiles industry has been a notorious polluter due to its large amounts of volatile organic compounds and polluted wastewater.

But viscose, a new environmentally friendly fiber could help the industry gain a positive boost in its drive to become greener.

Viscose is a natural fiber extracted from wood pulp and notable for being biodegradable and having the same absorbent and easy-to-weave characteristics as cotton.

It's used to make clothing, household wipes, cigarette filters, baby wipes, feminine hygiene products, medical pads as well as household wipes and a variety of other products.

The global output of viscose fiber has been growing worldwide. It was 1.43 million tons in 2006, and reached 1.54 million tons in 2007.

To meet the demand, the foreign-owned, Sateri International Group, is a major integrated manufacturer of specialty pulp and viscose fibers, is expanding its output in China.

With a total global production capacity of 285,000 tons, Sateri has two pulp factories in Brazil and a plantation in Indonesia, plus a viscose fiber mill in Jiujiang in China's Jiangxi province. The Group is one of the largest viscose and dissolving pulp producers in the world.

Leading viscose producer

Sateri fiber mill, in Jiujiang with an investment of $215 million, is the first wholly foreign-owned viscose fiber mill in China. It supplies 70,000 tons of viscose a year.

Last August, Sateri started expanding the manufacturing facility with an investment of 980 million yuan ($139.61 million).

The expansion is expected to be completed in October, and could push its annual production capacity to 130,000 tons, according to Craig Barker, CEO of Sateri.

That would also turn Sateri into China's fourth largest viscose fiber manufacturer.

Sateri has been exporting rayon from China, but the domestic consumption of viscose fiber is now also rising.

The enforcement of China's Energy Efficiency Law will put pressure on some small or energy-consuming enterprises to embrace green solutions and give Sateri a boost, notes Barker.

China is a major viscose manufacturer, producing 770,000 tons per year, a figure that accounts for more than 50 percent of the global production capacity.

The viscose fiber market in China has been growing by 15-17 percent annually during the past five years, says Barker.

At higher temperatures viscose is stronger than oil-based fibbers like polyester. As a result it's also ideally suited for products like the reinforcing fabric for tires.

It is also being used to make flame barriers or layers for upholstery fabrics, home textiles and furniture.

In addition, new and expanded applications of specialty viscose have been found in a wide variety of products including LCD screens, building materials and pharmaceuticals.

Sateri's pulp and viscose fiber factories have adopted a process, which recycles over 95 percent of chemicals used in the manufacturing process and the factories also use biofuels for all energy needs, says Barker.

Statistics show viscose fiber enjoys a much higher yield of 6.2 tons per hectare, consuming 6.4 tons of water. This is compared with cotton's 1.2 tons per hectare, using 7 to 29 tons of water.

Sateri has been promoting communication among various textile companies in China as well as research centers, academic organizations and universities to expand its presence, says Barker. "We will also intensify cooperation between upstream and downstream players and develop various fiber products to meet market needs and consumer demands," he says.