T
Some of the World’s largest car manufacturers, including BMW and Hyundai, are in the final testing phase for the use of a fabric manufactured by Riopele in the upholstery and roof, composed of a mixture of Cork-a-tex and Tenowa – an acronym for Textil No Waste, Riopele’s brand for recycled products.
As its name implies, Tenowa is fabrics, yarns, and fibers whose production results from the recycling of waste generated by the conventional manufacturing process of the textile industry.
The automotive industry is not the only sector surrendering to the qualities of Cork-a-tex, a yarn produced using waste from the cork industry. Major world sports footwear brands have already tested and approved Cork-a-tex as a raw material. Now only the final decision is missing. “We believe we will launch sneakers with cork thread during this year”, says Xavier Leite, CEO of Têxteis Penedo, the company which, in a 50/50 partnership with Sedacor, owns the patent and the factory that produces the thread.
To cope with the exploding demand for Cork-a-tex by the automotive and sports footwear industries, it is investing half a million euros in a new machine built at a Portuguese metalworking company that will double its production capacity.