#Textiles & Apparel / Garment

2023-08-10

Huafeng, Cyclone and Covestro collaborate to provide sports shoes and shorts with reduced carbon footprint

Team Sonnenwagen, a student team from RWTH Aachen and FH Aachen, Germany, is committed to more sustainable mobility using renewable energy. With a self-constructed solar racing car, they once again plan to take part in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in October 2023 in Australia.

The team also attaches great importance to a more sustainable sports kit. Huafeng, a leader in textile technology, supports this request by providing more sustainably made athletic shoes and shorts for team outfits. For this purpose, Huafeng used a partly bio-based polyurethane (PU) dispersion from Covestro, the main sponsor of Team Sonnenwagen.

• Huafeng developed more sustainable HAPTIC® textile coating solution based on Covestro’s partly bio-based Impranil® CQ DLS/1 PU dispersion

• New textile coating solution was used to produce official shorts and shoes of Team Sonnenwagen solar car project

• HAPTIC® Art ink solution enables more design versatility and durability alongside significant reductions in environmental impact

• Apparel and footwear fabrics are made by Huafeng based on Cyclone recycled PET yarns, delivering even lower production-related emissions

The design of the sports shoes for Team Sonnenwagen was produced using Huafeng's proprietary HAPTIC® Art textile coating system with partially bio-based INSQIN® PU dispersions from Covestro. © Huafeng

The new official team equipment provided by Huafeng features shorts and sports shoes with designs using Huafeng’s newly launched HAPTIC® textile coating system, which contains partly bio-based INSQIN® PU dispersions from Covestro. In addition, fabrics for the garments and shoes are made by Huafeng based on Cyclone recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) yarns derived from post-consumer plastic bottles. The shoe upper material is made of 100 percent Cyclone rPET, while the shorts consist of 86 percent Cyclone rPET and 14 percent Spandex for ensuring a comfortable fit.

Lina Schwering, Team Manager of Team Sonnenwagen Aachen: “Our new official equipment looks fantastic – and we’re particularly excited about its sustainability benefits! Combined with its excellent performance, it fits well with our vision for a more sustainable mobility future. We’re grateful for the continued support of Cyclone, Huafeng with its HAPTIC® products, and Covestro as we pursue this vision.”

The next generation of textile coating

Developed by Huafeng using Covestro’s partly bio-based PU Impranil® CQ DLS/1, the HAPTIC® Art textile coating system used for the shoes enables especially outstanding aesthetics, improved mechanical performance, and reduced production-related emissions. Thanks to its high solids content and thixotropic properties, the system allows manufacturers to achieve a high coating thickness, making it well-suited for creating coatings with detailed images and sophisticated 3D effects on apparel and footwear.

This is how the shorts of Team Sonnenwagen's new sports kit look like. © Huafeng

Images and textures applied using the HAPTIC® Art ink system have undergone a series of tests for properties such as flexibility, adhesion, and resistance to hydrolysis, washing, and abrasion. The excellent results demonstrate that the Art ink is particularly suitable for coating on high-performance sports footwear. In recognition of its excellent mechanical properties, Huafeng’s ink coating system recently received the ISPO Best Product Award.

Dr. Thomas Schmidt, Director of Innovation & Creation at Huafeng: “HAPTIC® Art ink represents an important expansion of our aesthetic coating capabilities, offering exceptional design versatility along with substantial environmental benefits. For example, the new Team Sonnenwagen shoes deliver savings of 260 g CO2e per pair compared to conventionally manufactured sports shoes*. We look forward to developing even more sustainable solutions that help drive the future of textile coating.”

Toward a more sustainable sportswear industry

With strong environmental credentials, this new coating system can also help meet the growing demand for more sustainable sportswear. Traditionally, sports apparel and footwear have relied heavily on virgin fossil-based PET materials and PU coatings to achieve the required performance, appearance, and durability. However, by combining Huafeng’s textile coating expertise with Covestro’s partly bio-based INSQIN® PU technology, Team Sonnenwagen´s new equipment proves that a more sustainable approach is possible.

Dr. Torsten Pohl, Head of Global Textile Coatings at Covestro: "This new textile coating system represents a major step forward in terms of both performance and aesthetics. Covestro’s partly bio-based Impranil® CQ PU dispersion plays a major role in the shoe’s strong environmental credentials, contributing around 80 g to the overall CO2e savings*. This technology will enable garment and footwear manufacturers to create products that not only look incredible but also deliver a reduced environmental impact."

*According to internal calculations

Covestro, FILK Freiberg, and OUT e.V. develop flexible, conductive polymer smart textile system

As the smart textiles market continues to grow across healthcare, personal protection, sportswear, and automotive applications, developers are seeking new ways to integrate electronic functionality directly into textiles, without the rigidity and complexity of conventional wiring. To address this challenge, FILK Freiberg Institute, an independent research institution with expertise in polymer coatings for textile applications, collaborated with Optotransmitter-Umweltschutz-Technologie (OUT) e.V. The joint project, funded under the German Industrielle Gemeinschaftsforschung (IGF) program of the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWE), focused on developing flexible, conductive polymer surfaces for next-generation smart textiles.

Covestro to exhibit solutions for a more sustainable and productive textile industry at Techtextil 2026

Covestro will present a broad portfolio of material innovations for textile coatings, adhesive films and thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) at Techtextil 2026 (Hall 11.0, Booth C79). The exhibits will demonstrate how advanced solutions can enhance durability, recyclability and manufacturing efficiency across applications such as automotive, infrastructure, protective apparel and sportswear. A particular focus will be on more sustainable coating technologies, including antimicrobial systems based on INSQIN® in combination with AGXX from Heraeus Precious Metals, as well as the integration of Pontacol® thermoplastic adhesive films into Covestro’s offering.

Covestro showcases monomaterial concept in autonomous SUE People Mover

UE | STUDIOS has unveiled the fully autonomous electric minibus “Self-driving Urban E-Shuttle” (SUE), placing strong emphasis on sustainable material design. Developed within a project funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) and the European Union, the vehicle will begin public road testing this year. At the core of the concept is the consistent use of recyclable monomaterials to improve circularity at end of life.

Covestro and Heraeus Precious Metals collaborate to enable safer, more sustainable antimicrobial textile coatings

Laboratory tests reveal that AGXX antimicrobial surface technology from Heraeus Precious Metals is fully compatible with Impranil® PU dispersions which are part of the waterborne INSQIN® textile coating technology from Covestro, paving the way for more sustainable antimicrobial textile coatings. This discovery comes at a key moment for the textile coatings industry. As the sharing economy continues to grow, more people are coming into regular contact with high-use surfaces, creating ideal conditions for bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms to thrive.

Messe Frankfurt commits further to East Africa: three textiles trade fairs during Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week from 2027

Messe Frankfurt and its Texpertise Network continue their steady, successful trajectory in the region. As Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week (ASFW) opened today, Member of the Executive Board Detlef Braun announced that Messe Frankfurt is licencing its three leading international trade fair brands Texworld, Apparel Sourcing and Texprocess to Nairobi, Kenya for the first time in 2027. From now on, they will take place annually as part of the Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week (ASFW) Nairobi.

“We Believe in the Value of Textiles”: Successful Opening of the KARL MAYER TEXTILE INNOVATION CENTER

KARL MAYER inaugurated its new, state-of-the-art TEXTILE INNOVATION CENTER (TIC) with a four-day opening week from April 21 to 24. The highlight of the week was the grand opening on Thursday, which drew a strong turnout from the international textile industry: around 220 customers, brands, and partners from across the textile value chain came to the company’s headquarters in Obertshausen for a first-hand look at the new high-tech development environment and lively exchange with industry peers.

Fifteen years of Autoneum – From spin off to global technology leader

What started as a strategic carve‑out has since become the success story of a global technology leader in acoustic and thermal management solutions for vehicles. Headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland, Autoneum supplies leading automobile manufacturers worldwide with innovative, lightweight and increasingly sustainable solutions.

Kruger, Canada, orders first nonwovens line for sustainable wipes from ANDRITZ

International technology group ANDRITZ has received an order from newly established Kruger Nonwovens to deliver a complete WetlaceTM hybrid line for the Wayagamack mill in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. With this investment, pulp and paper producer Kruger is preparing to enter the nonwovens market with a new generation of plastic-free, chemical-free materials for sustainable wipes. The line is the first of its kind in Canada and is scheduled to start production in 2028.

Picanol to present its leading weaving technology at ITM 2026

Picanol is pleased to announce it will be participating in ITM 2026 in Istanbul. This is a key event for industry professionals to engage with the Turkish textile industry as well as the extensive international audience attending the fair. During the event, Picanol will present its latest innovations to the visitors in Hall 8, booth 802.