The textile industry is innovating. Less hazardous dyes, new equipment and novel processes are reducing the water, chemicals and energy in fabric manufacturing.

Sarah Bellos, President of Stony Creek Colors and a Natural Resources Management Scientist is working with farmers in Tennessee to help them transition from growing tobacco to growing indigo. Due to a declining demand for tobacco, many small and medium sized farms are going out of business, leaving fields unproductive and deserted.

Sarah and the farmers are replacing nitrogen-depleting tobacco with natural indigo and are targeting two to three harvests per year; two of their varieties are nitrogen-fixing crops that have a restorative effect on soil. The indigo is selected with traditional plant breeding to replicate plants with the highest concentration of indican, the chemical precursor to indigo. The stalks and stems are composted back onto the farms, but this is being considered as a biomass crop for power generation.

Indigo gives denim its beautiful blue shade. Originally grown in Asia, it was one of the most abundant dyes in the world, accounting for 19,000 tons in 1896. With the onset of synthetic indigo, manufactured commercially in 1897 by BASF in Germany, the need for natural indigo quickly declined.

Today, two large companies produce the almost 50,000 required tons of synthetic indigo per year. Clearly there is not enough arable land to grow this amount of indigo, and because it would compete with food crops, it will never replace its synthetic counterpart.

Next steps

The indigo harvested from plants is exactly the same molecule as synthetic indigo, therefore it can be used at existing mills without new processes and equipment. An industrial mill is partnering with Stony Creek Colors to produce a commercial run to validate market demand.

If all goes well, natural indigo could account for 2.8% of the global supply within the next 4 years, which equates to 15,000 acres of indigo.

Benefits to Tennessee and the consumer

• Employed farmers with a new revenue stream.
• Healthier soil due to indigo’s restorative nitrogen fixing ability.
• A transparent supply chain to meet consumer demand.
• More choices for the ever-increasing eco-chic consumer.

Impact to your business

Questions to Consider:

• Do you have a department or person that spots new innovations?
• Does your company have a process to validate new business ideas?

For help with any issue associated with chemicals, contact Amanda Cattermole at (415) 412 8406 or Amanda@cattermoleconsulting.com. We can help you develop powerful solutions to protect your company and brand reputation that result in safer products manufactured in cleaner supply chains.

Tips and Insights contains information to help you make informed chemicals management decisions. Each post highlights a particular topic and includes questions for you to consider .