World Water Day: What have aircraft carpets to do with preserving water resources?
Sustainability practices at ANKER, a partner of Melchers Aviation Technical Service
March 22 is World Water Day, and this year’s theme set by the United Nations is “Water for Peace”. The importance of water to life is self-evident, and when safe drinking water in a certain area becomes a scarce resource due to scarcity or pollution, it may even trigger tensions; therefore, water is also vital to the maintenance of prosperity and peace in the world, and water conservation and protection has become a broad global consensus.
The cost of protecting water resources is much lower than the cost of treating wastewater. For manufacturing companies, reducing water consumption and wastewater discharge in every stage of industrial production can reduce the waste and pollution of water resources from the source. The textile industry was once criticized for consuming large amounts of water and emitting toxic and harmful pollutants during the production process, but under the call for green transformation of the industry, more and more enterprises have already taken action: the German carpet manufacturer ANKER, a partner of Melchers Aviation Technical Service, is the staunch defender and practitioner of sustainable development.
For preserving natural resources, ANKER never stops looking for new ways to shape the transition towards more eco-friendly flooring types, backing constructions and fibre materials with its innovative products. SolutionDyed fibre is a great example – and is already used to make 80% of ANKER products. During the manufacturing process of SolutionDyed, the dye is already infused in the fibre during production and not – as is customary elsewhere – applied externally. As a result, a long-lasting and extremely colour-fast dye permeation is achieved right through to the fibre’s core.
Conventional externally dyed fibre
Dye-permeated SolutionDyed fibre
SolutionDyed effectively reduces the consumption of valuable water resources and the burden on the environment. For example, it dispenses with the subsequent wet dyeing process required for the vat dyeing of off-white threads. This guarantees considerable reductions in the consumption of process water and the production of wastewater. And since it also dispenses with the warm-up procedure for dyeing facilities customary elsewhere, it also saves considerable energy.
The nylon carpets made by SolutionDyed fibres are now widely used in airplane cabins. In order to ensure the comfort of passengers, the airlines have very high requirements on the cabin carpet cleaning frequency and cleanliness. Corrosive strong detergent will be used for removing stubborn stains, which requires high durability and color fastness of aviation carpet. Therefore, fiber carpets dyed with original liquid are highly preferred.
Advantages of SolutionDyed nylon carpets at a glance:
- Special manufacturing process in which the dye is infused in the fibres during production, achieving dye permeation of the whole fibre right through to the core
- Extremely colour-fast, long-lasting, hard-wearing and easy to maintain
- Also withstands UV radiation and extreme wear and tear (e.g. aggressive detergents)
- Environmentally friendly, resource-saving production method that saves considerable quantities of water, wastewater and energy
In the face of the increasingly severe problem of water resource protection, the whole society should actively participate in it. By taking concrete measures such as optimizing product design, adopting smart technologies and using renewable energy, businesses can effectively and efficiently fulfill their obligations to conserve and protect water resources and protect our common future.
About ANKER
Founded in 1854 in Germany, ANKER is a world-renowned enterprise specializing in the production of high-end carpets. In 2020, ANKER merged into OFC Commercial Carpet Co., Ltd. and became the only aircraft carpet supplier in China that is certified by Airbus, Boeing, COMAC and Embraer. ANKER carpet can be used for all the aircraft models in both line fit installations and aftermarket.
