Sympatex commends Gore-Tex for No-PFC commitment

“We congratulate our competitor on this step, which has been overdue from our point of view… Even if it is a pity, when corporate responsibility is only assumed by the majority on markets, when the public exerts enormous pressure in cooperation with organisations like Greenpeace to enforce such changes,” said Dr Rudiger Fox, CEO of Sympatex Technologies.

“We assume that Gore-Tex surely does not want to lose time any more to catch up with the market, where others have been proven for years now that this is possible from a technological point of view. However, the interest of individual companies must not be the main reason – it is about a common responsibility of our entire industry. Therefore, we offer our competitor our fullest support – be it in regards to our wealth of experience in developing fluorocarbon-free treatment or by sharing our PFC-free Sympatex membrane as an interim solution. The latter would not only implement this step immediately, but also equip functional clothing with a meanwhile completely climate-neutral membrane,” explained Dr Rüdiger Fox. 

“In the future, all eyes will be set on Gore, one of the former figureheads on our market. Not only the entire functional textile sector, but also stakeholders from other areas will assess whether today’s commitment only was a green coat or actually a serious obligation. Consumers expect transparency and don’t want to see the issue being postponed due to several reasons – like some years ago during the shift of long-chain fluorochemistry (C8) to yet less examined short-chain and volatile fluorocarbons (C6). The credibility of our entire sector is at stake,” Fox added.

“Already today, textile-intense countries, such as Bangladesh, are facing an extreme drinking water problem – and cities are drowning in piles of garbage. Therefore, we will persistently expand our entire laminate portfolio towards recycled and recyclable resources by 2020. Recycled polymers consume 90 per cent less water and 2/3^rd less energy than new polymers based on petroleum during the production process,” said Fox. (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India