The Haartz Corporation, a leader in the supply of automotive interior fabrics headquartered in Acton, Massachusetts, has announced a partnership with Green Theme Technologies.

Haartz will now treat materials with GTT’s PFAS-free and Empel process which eliminates harmful chemicals from all levels of textile finishing without the use of water. It can apply a wide variety of finishes, including durable water repellenct, anti-wicking and durable stain release to an almost limitless number of textiles.

“Haartz is a world leader in scaling finished fabric technologies through world-class manufacturing and testing facilities,” said Martin Flora, VP of business development for GTT. “Our partnership is bringing new textile innovation to North America and helping to drive a positive and sizable environmental impact.”  

Independent tests conducted by Bureau Veritas and Okeotex confirm Empel uses a non-toxic and water-free hydrocarbon monomer solution that is polymerized when applied to fabrics, wrapping each individual yarn with a high-performance finish. Testing reveals it outperforms existing C0 and C6 fluorocarbon water repellent options.

As PFAS bans accelerate across the country and around the world, forward thinking brands like Haartz are taking the lead to adopt high performance and sustainable solutions. Apparel brands such as Artilect, Black Diamond, Stoney Creek and Trew Gear are currently all selling apparel products that use Empel. Haartz holds the only US license for the process and plans to scale production with several household brands.

“Empel presents endless possibilities for the future of textile manufacturing, with applications ranging from clothing to furniture and beyond,” said Matt Williams, vice president of global automotive exteriors and new markets at Haartz. “We continually push our manufacturing boundaries to bring the cleanest, highest performance products to market. Just as we have done throughout our long history serving the automotive markets, we’re approaching a unique problem with a unique sustainable solution and we’re looking forward to bringing this new enhanced technology with a lower carbon footprint to US manufacturing.” 

www.greenthemetek.com