Panasonic Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "Panasonic") has collaborated with ECOALF, a sustainable fashion brand developed by Sanyo Shokai Ltd (hereinafter referred to as "Sanyo Shokai"), to develop apparel wear buttons and cord locks using Panasonic's "kinari" cellulose fibre moulding material. The products will be used in jackets, trousers and storage packs for the ACT series, a Japan-only collection to be launched by ECOALF on 1 April.
Panasonic began research and development to reduce the amount of petroleum-derived resin in 2015, and in 2019 developed a composite processing technology to mix cellulose fibre, a naturally occurring component, into resin at a 55% concentration. Panasonic Production Engineering Corporation has started test sales of high-concentration cellulose fibre moulding materials under the brand "kinari" from January 2022.
Since March 2020, Sanyo Shokai has been expanding ECOALF, a sustainable fashion brand from Europe, in which all items are made entirely from recycled materials and natural materials with low environmental impact. By recycling collected plastic bottles, discarded tyres, fishing nets, etc., the brand gives a new life to the waste as new upcycled materials, utilises them in apparel products and commercialises them.
The buttons and cord locks made from "kinari" developed by Panasonic have now been adopted by ECOALF for its new "ACT" series collection. The ACT series is a Japan-only range using upcycled materials such as recycled nylon made from fishing nets and textile scraps, and will be available from 1 April.
Panasonic sees this initiative as the start of an ongoing collaboration with Sanyo Shokai/ECOALF and will continue to contribute to efforts to solve environmental problems in the fashion industry. In addition to the clothes themselves and subsidiary materials such as buttons, Panasonic will also consider the effective use of other items under the ECOALF brand, losses generated in shops and exhibitions, and waste such as discarded hangers.
Panasonic is working with companies and local authorities on the effective use of various plant materials and waste materials. By further enhancing material characteristics and material superiority, we will accelerate their deployment in a wide range of products and promote corporate activities to realise a sustainable society through the reduction of resin use.
■ECOALF website https://ecoalf.com/en
Date of publication: 30 Mar 2022