Wickers

Synthetics, most prominently polyester, now account for a staggering 55 percent of the 52 million ton global fiber market, and that percentage is on the rise.

"Look at the growth of organic products—$8 billion in sales in 2000 and projected to increase to $20 billion by the year 2007. Our Industry, which is estimated at $18 billion, could easily find growth over the next five years by adopting a socially responsible plan for sustainable business."

"Those nearly 30 million tons of synthetic fiber produced annually eventually have to be disposed of, and they are not biodegradable."

Wickers

Beginning to Turn the Synthetic Ship

doug Hoschek, Sales Manager for Wickers, remembers fondly the free spirit and camaraderie of the early days in the outdoor industry.

“In the late ’70s, it seemed like every company was owned by a person who loved the outdoors and designed and engineered his own products, and each company owned a factory. They weren’t satisfied with the Coleman world of camping, so they invented their own gear, and then manufactured it in a small building that was a ‘factory’, run by folks in sandals, jeans, and t-shirts. The industry was rooted in the love-of-the-land culture. Part of the Rocky Mountain high was building your own gear behind your house, not flying to Asia to a sweatshop of horrors.

“At that time, folks like Nike were just getting going in clothing. To put it in perspective, L.L. Bean was a small mail order business doing less than $20 million. Now they do over $700 million. REI was under $40 million and now they do over $800 million. Throw all the outdoor icons into a box and at that time their total sales were under $15 million, and that includes Columbia, North Face, Sierra Designs and Marmot along with a startup called Patagonia. Now Nike alone does over $2 billion just in clothes!”

Wickers is the largest supplier of private label synthetic polyester performance underwear in the outdoor industry, but that doesn’t mean Hoschek has to be happy about it.

“It’s going to be difficult to bring real sustainable products into this industry because the entire ship is made of nylon and polyester,” he says.

Synthetics, most prominently polyester, now account for a staggering 55 percent of the 52 million ton global fiber market, and that percentage is on the rise.

“While every ton of polyester consists of about the same amount of natural oil, a further quantity of oil, in excess of one ton, is needed for the production process, transport and processing of every ton of fiber,” says Halo Harms, head of research and development for Lensing.

In addition to contributing significantly to our addiction to fossil fuels (not to mention global climate change), those nearly 30 million tons of synthetic fiber produced annually eventually have to be disposed of, and they are not biodegradable.

“Other parts of the world, particularly Asia, have spent billions building synthetic textile fiber plants for nylon and polyester. Those fabrics and fibers are dirt cheap, even lower than the U.S. prices back in the ’60s and ’70s. And that’s not going to change on the price of a barrel of oil.”

Hoschek’s arrival at Wickers represents a reunion with owner Tony Mazzenga. The two worked together at Malden Mills in the early ’80s, where they were instrumental in developing Polarfleece. Hoschek’s the guy responsible for bringing post consumer recycled fleece—fleece made from recycled plastic bottles—to the marketplace. Now he’s nearly obsessed with issues of sustainability.

“There is one for sure in all of this—we are in a less than 50 year count down to running out of oil on this planet,” Hoschek says. “Does it make sense to wait it out or do we begin to face the truth and begin to shift to more sustainable resources like merino wool and wood pulp? I think it all depends on whether you’re going to think in terms of quarterly reports or start thinking more long term. Look at the growth of organic products—$8 billion in sales in 2000 and projected to increase to $20 billion by the year 2007. Our Industry, which is estimated at $18 billion, could easily find growth over the next five years by adopting a socially responsible plan for sustainable business.”

Where does Wickers fit in?

“Our future at Wickers is about the four Rs, reduce, reuse, recycle, and renew. This includes working with raw materials like viscose that can be blended with natural fibers like wool, silk and organic cotton. Today, the technology for making fine denier wool stated in microns is allowing us to make base layer merino wool fabrics that are suitable for performance recreation apparel.”

Wickers has introduced a new line of performance base layer garments for men and women that are 50 percent merino wool and 50 percent viscose. They carry the label “Wickers Wool”.

As an industry lifer, Hoschek tends to think in terms of the global textile market, and he is less than encouraged by what he sees.

“Europe has practically given up on the production of cotton and even wool. They don’t have the land or water to produce large quantities of these fibers. India is giving up on cotton as their exploding population demands more water and land. There’s no long-term future in synthetics. So where is the fiber going to come from? Eventually Wall Street and the public stockholders of these large companies are going to have to be convinced that ‘going green’ really is going to pay off, although it will take years, not quarters, to see this happen.”

“Renewable raw materials are a prime requisite for new products introduced by the Wickers Brand,” Mazzenga adds. “And everything we sell is made in America, which, in our view, is also a part of our sustainability story.”

“I’m 60 years old,” says Hoschek. “Tony is 75. Maybe that’s why we’re thinking in these terms, knowing that if our industry doesn’t change, and I mean change fundamentally, our kids and grand kids aren’t going to be left with much of a planet.”

(For more information on Wickers, go to www.wickers.com. Sales Manager Doug Hoschek can be reached at 503/777-5788, or by e-mail at djhoschek@msn.com. Tony Mazzenga can be reached at tmazzenga@hotmail.com.)

The Beauty of Viscose

Viscose, which has been around for decades, and the brand name Tencel have grown in prominence in the outdoor industry in recent years. Unlike other manmade fibers, viscose is not synthetic. It is a cellulose-based fiber made from wood pulp, known for its silky feel and superb drape. It is cooler than cotton, and blends easily with many other fibers. And unlike polyester, because it’s cellulose-based, it’s biodegradable.

Older viscose factories had a reputation for being both water and energy inefficient, as well as polluting.

Lenzing, a leading producer of viscose, has refined the technology and developed a modern, sophisticated, water and energy efficient production facility in Austria, where environmental regulations are comparatively stringent. The cooking liquor used to dissolve the wood chips and separate the raw pulp is recovered, and the components that cannot be put to further use are used to produce energy. The liquors, combined with tree bark, sawdust, and other residual substances, provide 77.2 percent of the total fuel mix of Lenzing AG. This means these biogenic fuels and residual materials, which are CO2 neutral, provide all of the energy necessary for the processing of the pulp, with excess power being supplied for paper and fiber production. Dependence upon fossil fuels is dramatically reduced. (Contrast this with polyester!)

There are several other comparative efficiencies. In Israel, for example, 7,000 cubic meters of water are required to irrigate the land needed to produce one ton of crude cotton. According to the folks at Lenzing, they use 350 cubic meters of water to produce one ton of viscose fibers. In addition, reducing fresh water requirements is a priority. The water is put to multiple uses, providing countercurrent flows, heat exchangers and cooling towers.

Lenzing was also the first company in the world to develop a process that allows the completely chlorine-free bleaching of dissolving pulp. Replacing chlorine and chlorine compounds with oxygen compounds has decisively reduced waste-water pollution.

While the Lenzing production facility in Austria uses domestic beech that is removed by thinning and selective cutting, there is concern among environmentalists that the production of cellulose-based fibers can create an incentive to clearcut, particularly in Southeast Asia, where environmental regulations are weak and forest land is already disappearing at a staggering rate as the result of over-logging. So the comparative environmental friendliness of viscose is dependent upon how and where the trees are harvested, and the age of and technology employed by the production facility. Know where your viscose comes from!

In 2002, Lenzing became the first fiber manufacturer to receive the European Eco Label.