Environmentally friendly awning fabric made from recycled polyester exemplifies sustainability

'This high quality cloth is derived entirely from used recycled PET bottles'

More and more awning companies are distinguishing themselves with sustainability. For example, NederLux of Zeewolde, official distributor for the Benelux of the German brand swela from Schmitz Textiles, is introducing an environmentally friendly awning fabric derived entirely from used recycled PET bottles. Z&R spoke with sales manager Markus Feldmann of Schmitz Textiles and NederLux director Klaas-Jan Postma about this remarkable innovation.

Based in Emsdetten, Germany, Schmitz Textiles is part of a more than century-old tradition in textile production. In the 1960s, the company was one of the first manufacturers to start manufacturing acrylic fabric for sun protection and other outdoor applications. At the turn of the century, however, this German manufacturer decided to partially switch from acrylic cloth production to polyester cloth. "In the following years, we eventually focused entirely on polyester cloth," says Markus Feldmann. "These polyester awning fabrics, which have become known under the brand swela, are characterized, among other things, by a strikingly beautiful light transmission. Because our company values sustainability, we have now developed a polyester fabric that is recycled from used PET bottles for 100%. We then spin this raw material into high-quality yarn and process it into quality fabrics in a variety of color compositions and designs. This recycling process has also been officially certified by an independent agency."

Ecofabrics label

Meanwhile, NederLux has also included this environmentally friendly awning fabric - called elegance eco - in its collection. Klaas-Jan Postma of NederLux, who has been working in the Dutch awning industry since 1998, says he is very pleased with this additional collection. "From now on, our dealers can present the new swela catalog to their customers. Where normally blue is our house color, the elegance eco stands out with its striking green color. This new eco-friendly cloth also stands out thanks to the special ecofabrics label sewn into the cloth. This label has a QR code on the reverse side that links to the website of ecofabrics.nl; this contains all kinds of information about the properties of this special, environmentally friendly cloth. Incidentally, manufacturers interested exclusively in the elegance eco collection can also contact us. Incidentally, the quality properties of the elegance eco do not differ from the standard elegance. There is also no difference in terms of price. In short, a green label without feeling it in the wallet!" What, according to Klaas-Jan, does not change, however, is the familiar service around swela: "Every Benelux partner who orders cloth will receive it quickly as usual, whether it is made-up cloth, rolls or coupons."

Circular economy

For Schmitz Textiles, the introduction of the elegance eco-collection is only a first step toward far-reaching recycling, Feldmann emphasizes. "The next step is to also collect and recycle cutting waste, which is generated by our partners when processing the elegance eco collection, in the future. In this way, we want to further implement and expand the concept of the circular economy."