Waterless Textile Dyeing: Where we stand and what role can it play for aggressive fashion industry impact reduction

‎Regularly, our Secretary General Lutz Walter shares his insights and knowledge through his blogposts, covering a wide range of topics related to textile sustainability and innovation. Follow his blog to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges that the textile industry is facing today.

"Dyeing and finishing, also known as tier 2 of the fashion supply chain, accounts for some 30-40% of the industry’s carbon footprint and a significant share of its freshwater use. If we want to get anywhere near the aggressive decarbonisation targets or commitments made by many individual brands and collective industry initiatives towards 2040-2050, this elephant in the room needs to be tackled"

In his latest blog post, our Secretary General Lutz Walter examines the current state of waterless textile dyeing, a key lever in reducing the fashion industry’s carbon and water footprint. He highlights a range of emerging technologies, from supercritical CO₂ systems and digital jetting to ozone and hybrid solutions, already operating at pilot scale, while noting the challenges of scaling, high costs, chemistry constraints, and the need for brand co-investment.