Win-win for digital printing industry and environment

The textile industry, as the world’s third largest water-consuming industry, has the highest score in all industries, not less than 20%, in terms of water pollution. Considering that colored fabrics are dyed, white fabrics are bleached, printed textiles need to be steamed and dried to fix, and then remove excess ink, which should not be a surprise.

When turning to digital textile printing – by investing in dye sublimation and paper transfer technology – printing companies immediately experienced a significant reduction in water and energy use. The digital printing process saves at least 60% of the water consumption compared to the traditional six-color printing process. If all the running rice of all printed textiles in the world shifts from traditional printing to digital printing, we can save up to 760 billion liters of water, which means enough water can fill 300,000 Olympic swimming pools. And that’s not all. It can also save up to 800 million cubic meters of natural gas and 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity.

Not only does digital printing require less resources, water and energy than conventional textile printing, even at a higher printing quality, but it also enables on-demand production – a key benefit for the fashion industry. No more worries about small batches or personalised variations. As a designer, this frees your creativity, and as a manufacturer, it lets you print just what you need, when you need it. Digital production shortens time-to-market and reduces business risk, but by digitally printing near their buyers, they also greatly reduce the cost of transportation too. Right now, up to 60% of all traditional textile production happens in Asia. With digital printing on the rise, a geographical shift is to be expected.

Addressing the environmental challenge
The adoption of digital printing technology is steadily growing. This should not come as a surprise, given all the benefits it brings. As mentioned above, digital textile printing helps produce more efficiently while reducing the environmental impact. In addition, the development of advanced eco-friendly inks is further boosting sustainability in the textile industry.
We strive to educate our clients on our sustainability initiatives and on how our products can help them reduce their own environmental impacts. This is a way, we believe, that we can all work together to protect this fragile planet.