Cork-atex yarn by Sedacor wins Techtextil Award

The project ‘cork-a-tex yarn’ — yarn with high incorporation of cork, was awarded with the Techtextil Innovation Award at the recently held Techtextil fair in Frankfurt. The project, a result of close partnership between the Portuguese cork and textile industry, won in the category ‘new material,’ one of the 7 categories and considered most important prize.

The award ceremony took place at the official opening of Techtextil and Texprocess 2019, organised by Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH.
The ‘cork-a-tex yarn’ project was led by Sedacor (cork industry), together with Têxteis Penedo (textile industry), it also involved the scientific and technical collaboration of CITEVE (Technological Center for Textiles and Clothing) and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto as well as support from the Portuguese Government and the European Union. This is the first time that a Portuguese project has won this worldwide prestigious prize ever, said a press release from JPS Cork Group.
With an international patent, this disruptive product is being targeted to and is in demand from several sectors and benchmark companies worldwide, for applications in the form of fabrics or knitwear for sectors such as home textiles, clothing, footwear and fashion accessories, upholstery, furniture and others.
Sedacor and Têxteis Penedo are already industrialising this new material which is expected to be available in the market in 2019. Sedacor is a company of the JPS Cork Group that since 1924 has constantly evolved with innovative and sustainable solutions made of cork for a wide variety of sectors.
Cork is a bio-based renewable material used to seal wine bottles. In a drive to be even more sustainable, the cork industry is using cork residuals as a coating on textile yarns to form a cork yarn solution for textiles. Using this waste, a new type of cork yarn was developed with a natural cork look-and-feel which will allow the development of new textiles.
Composed of cotton and other sustainable textile materials together with cork waste, the new innovative and high performance yarn simultaneously incorporates the properties of textile substrates at the level of comfort, breathability, touch and appearance and the functional benefits of cork: natural, comfortable and warm feeling, hypoallergenic with high friction resistance and good resilience.
“The growing demand for new textile solutions, particularly in the area of eco-design and sustainability got us thinking about how we could overcome the difficulties and limitations of using cork-based materials in the clothing and home textiles sector.
Considering the importance of the cork and textiles sectors in the Portuguese and European traditional Industries, led us to the emergence of the ‘cork-a-tex’ project — with the objective of developing sustainable textile substrates with cork waste from used cork stoppers, old cork products, or recyclable cork among others, thus a great example of circular economy,” said JPS Cork Group.
Techtextil is the leading international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens, the largest and most recognised international event in this field and its awards are sought after by all who make research and innovation on that area.