MIRFIELD [03.07.09] Camira Fabrics, the manufacturer of high performance contract and mass passenger transportation fabrics, has received a major commendation for the development of its Sting Plus nettle-based fabric.
Receiving the accolade at the 2009 BCE Environmental Leadership Awards, Sting Plus is the result of a Camira research and development project carried out over four years to create a sustainable fabric from nettles, with backing from Defra, the UK government s department for environment, food and rural affairs.
The project involved research into nettle cultivation, cropping and fibre extraction; fibre processing, blending, weaving and dyeing, technical performance evaluation and life-cycle assessment.
With water usage arguably the biggest environmental issue in textiles, Camira has invested in an on-site natural borehole and modern scouring technology. The careful choice of scouring detergents and the use of biodegradeable spinning lubricants also means that the company s chemical oxygen demand levels are well below consent limits.
With several manufacturing sites across the UK and one in Eastern Europe, Camira has ensured that all of its domestic sites use only green electricity from renewable and sustainable sources rather than fossil fuels. Its main manufacturing site is equipped with intelligent lighting which automatically adjusts the brightness in relation to natural light available and therefore saves energy.
The factory in Lithuania benefits from green heating generated from burning waste wood, rainwater purification for factory sanitation and an air re-circulation system which recycles 75% of heat.
The BCE Awards scheme celebrates businesses that meet current commercial demands, without compromising the environment for future generations.
