Textile End Products Are Becoming More Traceable

Oerlikon Manmade Fibers Solutions, in partnership with Haelixa, will provide transparency and sustainability across the entire textile value chain. The two partners are presenting a solution for comprehensive product traceability as required by the European Green Deal. A key component of the solution is DNA marker technology developed by Haelixa, which ensures complete traceability of materials. These markers survive all production process steps and verify that the end product is identifiable. Haelixa Marketing Director Holly Berger says, "This innovative technology uses different DNA sequences specifically designed for each project and creates a unique identity for the material. Once DNA is integrated into the material, it becomes impossible to remove, tamper with or alter." The application is straightforward: the DNA marker is fed into the spinning process, for example together with preparation oil. The preparation system is adjusted accordingly. Other feeding options are currently being developed. This concept is complemented by Oerlikon's digital platform atmos.io, which records and evaluates comprehensive production and process data throughout the yarn production process. Atmos.io gives the yarn its digital identity during its time in Oerlikon systems, from melt to packaged packaging. This technology has been successfully used for some time to monitor the production process. With atmos.io, deviations in process parameters and yarn data can be detected and corrected within a very short period, which keeps yarn quality constant and reduces waste rates. The combination of both technologies ensures clear traceability of the produced yarn even in subsequent processing steps. In this way, the yarn's components, properties, production conditions and origin are tracked in the finished garment without leaving room for doubt. Oerlikon Manmade Fibers CTO Jochen Adler says, "The unique DNA carries the yarn's 'roots' recorded digitally in atmos.io to the daily life of the end consumer." Textile end products meet the requirements of the digital product passport demanded by the EU, containing the information needed to assess life cycle evaluations and circularity. Initial long-term tests have demonstrated 100% traceability of yarns in POY and FDY spinning processes. Manufacturers who opt for the atmos.io platform can easily adapt their production systems to include DNA markers. Source