Global colour and speciality chemicals leader Archroma has joined forces with outdoor brand Ternua to create a range of garments made from upcycled agricultural waste.

The two brands, which both place sustainability at the core of their businesses, created the capsule collection of T-shirts and sweatshirts through the use of Archroma’s EarthColors. The EarthColors development is a range of high-performance dyes, synthesised from non-edible agricultural or herbal industries, including leaves and nutshells.

Archroma's EarthColor dyes are fully traceable from source to store

With the EarthColor dyes, the aim is to replace petroleum-derived raw materials which are the more conventional substances used to synthesise

dyes at present. In doing so, EarthColor dyes take a step towards closing the loop, as by only using the non-edible parts of agricultural food waste, they leave the edible parts safely available for consumption.

The upcycled agricultural waste used in the collaboration came from the Basque region of northern Spain, with the project being supported by the Department of the Environment of the Gipuzkoa province government, and the province’s National Cider Association. The clothing collection, named Nutcycle, recently attracted visitors to Ternua’s booth at OutDoor Friedrichshafen 2018, held at Lake Constance, Germany. At the show, Ternua described their vision which was to collect walnut shells during the cider season, when cider houses typically serve walnuts with their cider. According to estimates, up to 55,000 kg of walnuts are consumed in the cider houses of the Basque region.

Ternua's Nutcycle range will be available in stores from February 2019

By working together with Archroma, these walnut shells are turned into biomass-based dyes to colour Ternua’s garments. The fabric used, which is a blend of post-consumer recycled cotton and polyester, is dyed using the shells collected from four cider houses located close to Archroma’s Barcelona facilities, before being converted into dyestuff by Archroma.

Describing the project, Edu Uribesalgo, group innovation and sustainability director at Ternua, says: “These are our most sustainable T-shirts and sweatshirts we have made since our creation. Using recycled material is one step into creating recycled clothes with a soul. Colorants from nature on the other hand are quite the holy grail for conscious brands. We were so excited when we found an innovation partner like Archroma to help us convert humble natural biomass source into warm earthy colours.”

Nuria Estapé, director of Marketing Promotion, Brand & Performance Textile Specialties, Archroma, echoed Uribesalgo’s sentiments: “With EarthColors, Archroma puts into action its commitment to continuously challenge the status quo in the deep belief that we can make our industry sustainable, because it’s our nature.”

The EarthColor dyes are both Bluesign and GOTS certified and are fully traceable from the original natural waste material right through to the store by using NFC technology. Meanwhile, the development was also an OutDoor Industry Award Gold Winner in 2017 at OutDoor Friedrichshafen.

The Nutcycle collection will be available in stores from February 2019. For more information on the development, visit www.ternua.com