TOKYO — March 29, 2012 —Teijin Fibers Limited, the core company of the Teijin Group’s polyester
fibers business, announced that it has developed new polyester fabrics for work uniforms with
enhanced properties that enable facility operators to conserve electrical power in workplaces. The
new fabrics, to be marketed by Teijin Fibers beginning this May, also have antistatic properties
for enhanced safety and are environmentally friendly because they are made with recycled polyester
and are recyclable through Teijin’s Eco Circle closed-loop recycling system at the end of their
useful lives.
The Fujifilm Group will use the new fabrics for 50,000 uniforms to be worn by employees in
Japan over the next three years, part of Fujifilm’s efforts to save power and reduce environmental
load in its workplaces.
Summer-use fabrics offer significantly improved ventilation to achieve lower temperatures
inside the clothing, providing more comfort in work environments where air cooling levels have been
raised to conserve electrical power. Meanwhile, winter-use fabrics are highly efficient in
retaining heat and are extra soft, allowing wearers to stay warm and comfortable in work
environments where heating temperatures have been lowered to conserve energy.
The new fabrics satisfy international safety standards for work uniforms set by the
International Electrotechnical Commission, including an antistatic standard for protecting people
working with electronic components and similar products. This is the first case in Japan in which
uniforms meeting this standard have been adopted on a group-wide basis.
The uniform fabrics are made with Teijin Fibers’ chemically recycled polyester fiber, which
is created through the Eco Circle closed-loop recycling system. After their useful lives, the
uniforms will be collected by Chikuma & Co., Ltd., a manufacturer and trader of school and work
uniforms and a registered member of Teijin’s Eco Circle system. Chikuma will send the uniforms to
Teijin Fibers’ Matsuyama plant in Japan, where they will be chemically decomposed and then
converted into polyester raw material with purity comparable to polyester derived directly from
petroleum. The raw material then will be processed into high-quality polyester for the manufacture
of new recyclable products. The production and recycling of 50,000 sets of jackets and trousers via
the Eco Circle system will reduce CO2 emissions by about 255 tons compared to using polyester
derived directly from petroleum.
Teijin Fibers develops green solutions through hybrid strategies that leverage the company’s
unique polyester technologies and special expertise in recycling, functional materials,
plant-derived materials and manufacturing processes.
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Fujifilm Group has been taking steps to reduce
power consumption and environmental load in its workplaces. By adopting uniforms made of Teijin’s
new fabrics, Fujifilm expects not only to save electrical power in workplaces, but also through
reduced ironing and drying needs due to the fabrics’ extra durability and easy care.
Working together, the Teijin and Fujifilm groups welcome the opportunity to achieve greater
sustainability through their cross-industry initiative.
Posted on April 2, 2012
Source: Teijin
Group