COMPOJEAN – Partnership for Sustainability Award

Project implementation period:

2019-2020

Challenge:

Collection of indigo-dyed cotton by-products from the production line
Purification and pre-treatment of indigo-dyed cotton by-products
Development of environmentally friendly polymer
Production of the filter part for a tumble dryer
Tumble dryer performance tests

Solution:

Indigo is a large-scale product, most of which is used for dyeing fabrics. Indigo-dyed cotton by-products released during the production of Calik Denim jeans were collected from the production line. Afterwards, the collected indigo-dyed cotton by-products were dried at a suitable temperature and the moisture contained in it was removed. Subsequently, the dried by-products were ground to optimum dimensions required for production. R&D formulations including different contents of indigo-dyed cotton by-products were developed and the most suitable formula was determined in terms of both mechanical properties and appearance quality. Indigo-dyed cotton by-products were bonded to the polymer matrix with a special binder during the extrusion process. Polymer composites including 5% indigo-dyed cotton by-products were produced by using optimum process parameters. Using the developed polymer composite material containing indigo dyed cotton by-products, the filter cassette part of the Dryer Machine was produced in the injection process. The performance tests will be performed for Dryer Machines that have filter cassettes made of indigo-dyed cotton by-products.

Results:

In this project a polymer composite material containing 5% wt. indigo-dyed cotton by-products were developed. In this way, indigo-dyed cotton by-products generated during the jeans production of Calik Denim company will be evaluated. At the same time, the amount of Arçelik plastic consumption will be reduced. This developed environmentally friendly material which is planned to be used in 1,000,000 dryer machines annually. In this way, Arçelik’s plastic usage will be reduced by 10,000 kg/year. 31 tons of CO2eq emission will be reduced due to the reduction of Arçelik’s plastic consumption. In addition, 10,000 kg indigo-dyed cotton by-products of Calik Denim will also be upcycled.

Category: Planet

Applicant:

ARÇELİK A.Ş & ÇALIK DENIM TEKSTIL SAN. VE TIC. A.Ş

About the company:

Having operations in the durable consumer goods industry with production, marketing and after-sales services, Arçelik offers products and has 30,000 employees, 23 production facilities in 9 countries and 12 brands. Arçelik is the leader brand in Turkey and the third largest company in the home appliances sector in terms of total sales in Europe.

Sustainable Development Goals