Ecological denim thanks to Italdenim
Italdenim is the first denim manufacturer to use for its production the Kitotex system developed by Canepa and based on chitosan, an renewable organic polymer obtained by processing food waste, more specifically crustacean shells, which allows to drastically reduce consumption of both water and energy and to reduce the use of detergents, bleaches and other chemicals. Having invested in the last five years 4 million euros in sustainable technologies and processing techniques, the company has been conducting a major research project to implement the use of chitosan in denim’s different processing stages.
It has developed several ecological product ranges, i.e. BLUE DENIM, BULL DENIM and FINISSAGGI SPECIALI: depending on the processing, chitosan is used as a colour natural fixer, to treat the raw fabric before the dyeing phase, therefore saving up on the use of dye and chemical products, or as an alternative to acrylic resins to obtain particular effects and finishes altogether eliminating using a natural method the presence of formaldehyde. Thanks to its commitment and ongoing research since 2013, Italdenim expects to use chitosan in 100% of its products by the end of 2016.