SUSTAINABILITY NEWS RELEASE

November 30, 2016 ECO-DYE®, YKK Technology for Waterless Dyeing of Zippers, Wins Good Design Award 2016

YKK Corporation (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Masayuki Sarumaru) received the Japan Institute of Design Promotion's Good Design Award 2016 for ECO-DYE®, its waterless dyeing technology for zippers.

Under the concept of contributing to a sustainable society, YKK developed ECO-DYE® to achieve the same quality as conventional dyeing techniques while reducing environmental load. YKK created ECO-DYE® by applying supercritical fluid dyeing ("SFD"), a waterless dyeing technology, to dye zippers, which consist of different components. Water conservation was thoroughly pursued, and hardly any water is used in the dyeing process, from preparation to rinsing/washing, extraction and recovery. ECO-DYE® achieves the same high quality and look as conventionally-dyed YKK zippers.

The Good Design Award 2016 recognized ECO-DYE®'s resolution of issues related to the dyeing process, including those related to quality, energy conservation and the work environment, as well as its environmental friendliness. What is more, it enables production in regions with water-quality and/or water-related environments that are unsuitable for dyeing. ECO-DYE® was thereby also recognized for holding the promise of enabling new capital investment and businesses.

YKK will continue engaging in environmentally conscious corporate management and business activities.

ECO-DYE® FLOWER
(238KB)

*「"ECO-DYE" is registered trademark of YKK CORPORATION in Japan and other countries/regions」(A flower made of zippers that were dyed red using ECO-DYE® waterless dyeing technology)

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