YKK has unveiled its latest innovation, the DynaPel water-repellant zipper, incorporating groundbreaking GTT EMPEL technology. Engineered to seamlessly integrate into garment recycling systems, DynaPel eschews the conventional polyurethane (PU) film, a hindrance to textile-to-textile recycling. This revolutionary approach addresses a major bottleneck in the recycling process by eliminating urethane materials, facilitating the circularity of performance apparel.
Terry Tsukumo, Vice President of the Product Strategy Division at YKK Corporation, emphasized DynaPel as a pivotal addition to their circular system-focused fasteners. By adopting EMPEL technology, the zipper not only ensures robust water protection, a hallmark of YKK products but also overcomes PU-related recycling challenges.
Traditional garment recycling systems struggle with the common PU film found in water-repellent zippers. DynaPelT’s innovation eradicates the need for zipper removal before recycling, streamlining the process and reducing unnecessary waste. EMPEL® technology, characterized by eco-friendly chemistry without PFAS and a unique manufacturing process, forms a durable, invisible water-repellent layer through molecular cross-linking within the yarn.
Presented at the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City and soon to be featured at the ISPO trade fair in Munich, DynaPel has earned a nomination for the Best New Product Award in the ISPO Textrends competition. Tsukumo envisions DynaPel as the herald of a new era in sustainable, high-performance water-repellant zippers, marking a paradigm shift in the future of zipper technology.
