Ecological principle: Trigema T-shirts decompose themselves
Created: 2022-08-16 2:59 p.m
By: Sina Alonso Garcia
Trigema's "Cradle-to-Cradle" T-shirt can be thrown in the compost heap - after nine months it has completely disintegrated.
© Trigema/Imago/teutopress (photomontage BW24)
The Burladingen-based textile manufacturer Trigema is increasingly focusing on sustainable concepts.
To protect the environment, clothing that is fully recyclable is now available.
Burladingen - Second hand and slow fashion are trendy.
Consumers are increasingly making sure that their clothing is produced in a sustainable and resource-saving manner.
Textile manufacturer Trigema from Burladingen has also recognized this.
Recently, clothes that are completely biodegradable are sold here.
The principle is called “Cradle-to-Cradle” (cradle to cradle) and was developed in the late 1990s.
The name is intended to contrast with the well-known idiom "from the cradle to the grave".
According to Trigema, all materials in a garment can be completely reused without any loss of quality, reports BW24.
"If in doubt, you can throw our Cradle-to-Cradle T-shirt on the compost heap and it has completely dissolved within nine months," explains Wolfgang Grupp Junior, son of company boss Wolfgang Grupp, in an interview with
familienunternehmen.eu
.
The material consists of 100 percent organic cotton, the process is optimized for the biological cycle.
The process was developed in cooperation with the international environmental institute EPEA Switzerland.
The corresponding products are sold within the “Change” collection.
Trigema is C2C-certified: according to the testing agency, clothing must meet certain criteria
Anyone who develops a C2C product can have it
certified by the
Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute .
Trigema has also received such a certification.
For this purpose, the clothing was tested with regard to numerous criteria from five categories:
material health
circularity
renewable energy
responsible use of water
social justice
Depending on how well a company meets these criteria during production, it receives one of five statuses:
basic
bronze
Silver
gold
platinum
Trigema is C2C certified with Gold status - the second highest level.
To ensure quality, the certificate must be renewed every two years.
Companies also have the opportunity to improve their status.
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Free from toxic substances: Like Trigema, these manufacturers rely on C2C
In addition to Trigema, there are other manufacturers in Germany who successfully use the Cradle-to-Cradle production process.
For example, the fashion chain C&A released its first completely biodegradable women's T-shirt in 2018.
Like Trigema, C&A now offers an entire Cradle-to-Cradle collection.
But companies outside the textile industry also make use of the process.
In 2013, for example, Werner & Merz received C2C certification for a Frosch brand bathroom cleaner.
Stabilo also developed a felt-tip pen that consists of 87 percent recycled raw materials.
More than 8,000 products from 300 companies worldwide are already C2C-certified.
With the sustainability approach and the complete production in Germany, Trigema wants to stand out from the rest of the textile industry.
"Since we produce 100 percent in Germany, our price is of course not very competitive in an international comparison," says Wolfgang Grupp Junior, who is responsible for business customers and IT projects at Trigema, to
familienunternehmen.eu
.
"Therefore, we have to score with other characteristics, such as quality, sustainable and fair production and speed as well as flexibility."
