Natural dyestuff created from post-industrial residue in the herbal remedy industries, including bitter orange and rosemary.
+ Creator | Archroma EarthColors®
+ Country | Switzerland + USA
+ Colour | Earth Sand 6000704, Bitter Orange Agricultural Waste
+ Challenge | Can natural raw ingredients underpin the fashion industry, without destroying our natural habitats and ecosystems?
Luminary Issue 26 X EarthColors®
"As a global leader in colour and speciality chemicals, we touch and colour peoples lives everyday, everywhere… we continuously challenge the status quo in the deep belief that we can make our industry sustainable.” Archroma
Botanical Colour | EarthColors®
As many of you know at Luminary we are obsessed with the origin of colour, where the pigment and the dyestuff come from, naturally, we were so excited when our research lead us to EarthColors®. Archroma is a global giant in the industry of colour across textiles, packaging and paper and coatings. EarthColors® is their new patented method of creating warm shades from natural waste ingredients.
We featured two of Archroma EarthColors® swatches in Issue 26 within the ABUNDANT story; Earth-Sand is derived from orange skins, waste from the herbal remedies industry, and Earth-Clay is a pigment derived from 90% beet residues from the food industry.
Luminary Issue 26 X EarthColors®
Global Fashion | Synthetic Dyestuff
The boom in petro-chemical industries at the turn of the 20th Century, revealed commercial high performance synthetic dyestuffs around the world. In the 21st Century we continue to be obsessed with synthetic colour, and our lifestyles and consumer habits lead us to expect every colour and a multitude of choices.
Across every area of design and manufacturing, the development of cheap, chemical dyes has led to a dirty global industry of mass scale colour production. From toxic ingredients, to polluted water systems, many communities around the world have suffered at the hands of our western colour infatuations. Archroma decided they had a responsibility to protect the planet and its people, the EarthColors® team have developed cleaner dyestuff solutions, closing the loop, and respecting the environment.
Raw ingredients and pigment
“Using natural waste-based raw materials has no negative impact on any other steps of the dye manufacturing, such as water and energy consumption or waste generation…. 100% of the natural raw material is transformed to a new dyestuff, guaranteeing full waste management into own production." Archroma
Pangaia X EarthColors®
Nature First | Traceable Colour
The seven biosynthetic dyes are derived from natural waste products from the agricultural and herbal industries - the edible part is still available for food consumption. The dyes are suitable for use on cellulosic fibres such as cotton, viscose, linen and bamboo. Major brands and retailers from Europe, USA, Australasia and Asia such as UGG, Pangaia, Primark, Patagonia and Esprit have already launched collections using EarthColors®.
“Archroma’s dyes manufactured using patented EarthColors® technology are fully traceable – from natural waste to material to the store… Information is available on smart hangtags which are attached to each item of clothing.” Archroma
Esprit + Pangaia X EarthColors®
Agricultural Waste | Botanical Colour
At Luminary we are continuously experimenting in our studio with developing pigments and dye stuff from foraged and found botanical plant matter. We collaborate with growers and dye garden specialists, foragers and nature artists who are working with the resources of their local environment and landscape in an ethical and carefully monitored way. By only taking what we need, and never over-harvesting, the raw ingredient will replenish and return – offering us a never-ending natural supply of ingredients.
EarthColors® are developed from an array of organic waste ingredients, including almond shells from the food industries. Rosemary and Saw-Palmetto dye is extracted from the waste, post-industrial residue from the herbal industries. Ingredients are sustainably sourced from all over the world, the bitter orange and grapefruit used to create our Earth-Sand colour featured in Luminary, originates in the South of Spain.
"We are re-inventing dyestuff - where nature meets technology.” Archroma
Future Colour | Find out More
Website | www.archroma.com
Instagram | @archromagroup
