Cotton Incorporated, the research and promotion company for cotton has joined hands with Archroma to present what they believe is the first ever dye derived from cotton plant residues. It began when Cotton Incorporated had approached Archroma and challenged it to develop a dye option that may represent the first opportunity in modern textile history to create and colour a fabric using a single plant source. Archroma has come out with EarthColors, an innovative method of creating dyes in warm, ternary shades from nature. In fact, the EarthColors application on cotton by-products marks the first time the cotton plant has been used to actually dye cotton fabrics.

The patented technology addresses two key concerns of the textile industry: sustainability and traceability. These sulphur-based dyes are designed for use on cellulosic fibers such as cotton. While most dyes in the textile industry are synthetic, using petrochemicals (oil) as a base, EarthColors is a biosynthetic alternative that makes use of natural waste from the agricultural or herbal industry.

There is an ample supply of cotton biomass. The global volume of cotton harvesting and ginning by-products that includes burs, stems, immature bolls, lint, sticks, and leaves can be as much as three million tons per year. One 480 lb. bale of cotton, for example, can produce 150-200 lbs. of usable byproducts.

Each batch of EarthColors dye offers a high level of traceability in the form of a hangtag with a Near Field Communication chip. The data on the chip, which can be accessed by Archroma customers and even consumers through a smart phone, explains the manufacturing process of the dye and where the natural materials were sourced. Similarly, every bale of cotton grown in the US receives a bale identification tag. The tag allows cotton businesses to trace the journey of the bale as far back as the facility where the cotton was ginned.