By Michal Arbel
Water is the most valuable resource in the world. We rely on it to sustain life every day, with access to clean drinking water being the most fundamental necessity anywhere.
However, valuable water sources are also used for the industry as well, and the fashion industry uses more than its fair share.
The Kornit Presto MAX direct-to-fabric printer is changing that by using less water than ever before.
The Importance Of Water
Today, water scarcity is a looming crisis that could affect the entire world.
Already, billions of people around the world live under some type of water stress, with inconsistent or insufficient access.
Many of these instances of water stress are related to climate change. Extreme heat events and drought are causing once-plentiful aquifers to dry up, and there are many places around the world where groundwater sources are receding.
Even if drastic action is taken to solve climate change today, these problems are expected to get worse in the future.
However, people also face another major cause of water scarcity. Both agriculture and industry compete with people over access to scarce water supplies.
Agriculture accounts for 70% of freshwater use, being vital to grow the food necessary to support a growing population.
Industry accounts for another 19%.
In countries without protective regulations, organizations can draw too much water for factories and other industrial facilities, leaving the local population without reliable access to clean water.
Water Use In The Fashion Industry
The production of garments and textiles is the second most water-intensive industry in the world.
In fact, the industry consumes nearly 80 billion cubic meters of water each year.
Traditional garment production methods generate enormous waste, consuming an excess of natural resources.
This significant water use accounts for every step of the textile production process.
That includes the growing of cotton or production of synthetic fibers, along with additional steps and dying and printing as well.
Dying alone can consume as much as 150 liters per kilogram of material.
Every liter of water that goes toward fashion production contributes to water stress, competing with people and other industries over increasingly scarce freshwater.
It’s clear that the fashion industry needs to make some significant changes when it comes to how it uses water.
Reducing Water Use With The Kornit Presto MAX
The Kornit Presto MAX is a direct-to-fabric printer that has been developed with the principles of accessibility and sustainability in mind.
Not only does this innovative technology bring local garment production to more people, but it also reduces both the carbon footprint of the process and its water consumption.
In fact, the Kornit Presto MAX has already made significant progress toward these goals.
Today, the Kornit Presto MAX prints over 800,000 square meters of fabric each year.
In that same time frame, the innovative printing process saves 55,77,899 liters of water compared to traditional printing methods.
As the Kornit Presto MAX and other Kornit direct-to-fabric and direct-to-garment printers continue to grow in popularity, we’ll be saving more water each and every day.
At Kornit, we’re committed to ensuring that our technologies are built with the future in mind in terms of both carbon footprint reduction and water use.
Conservation Without Compromise
The Kornit Presto MAX is a sustainable printing option that doesn’t compromise on quality. It delivers exceptional prints with many industry-exclusive features that can’t be found anywhere else. The versatility of the system allows printing on an extensive range of fabrics and even white printing on colored fabrics.
Designers have access to a comprehensive range of colors with high-quality pigments, including stunning neon colors exclusive to Kornit.
Along with this color range, designs can incorporate Kornit XDi elements that allow for the creation of 3D effects, including the realistic imitation of embroidery.
Along with the versatility and cost-effective operation of the Kornit Presto MAX, designers can make further use of the comprehensive ecosystem built around Kornit printers.
KornitX is an advanced workflow management system that can allow operations of any size to compete in the complex world of fashion production.
The Kornit Presto MAX is precisely what the industry needs for the future.
Kornit is making the changes necessary to ensure the sustainability of the industry while continuing to improve on accessibility, quality, and versatility.
This text is reproduced with kind permission of Texintel.com, you can read the original article first published here.