A small UK textile company is using AI to mix colours into yarn during the weaving process, eliminating the need for water in textile dyeing. Conventional water-based dyeing consumes vast amounts of water, generates toxic effluent, and produces significant CO₂ emissions. Waterless alternatives exist—dope-dyeing, which adds pigment to molten polymer before it is spun into fibre—but it is only economical for huge single-colour orders (over 10 tonnes), which most clothing brands cannot commit to. This forces the industry to stick with the polluting status quo. AMPHICO has already proven that optical colour-mixing works on a small scale: by weaving together dope-dyed yarns in different ratios, they can create a wide palette of colours without water. Their AI and machine learning system predicts the exact yarn mix needed to hit a target colour, making small, economically viable batches possible. If successful, the system could allow clothing brands to order sustainable, waterless textiles in the quantities they actually need, cutting emissions and eliminating dye wastewater. For the UK textile industry, it would lower production costs and make sustainable manufacturing commercially attractive, not just a niche premium.
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AMPHICO is a young textile company which has successfully commercialised performance textile technology for the outdoor/sportswear market, with expertise in AI/ML-powered manufacturing automation and material science. Textile manufacturers seek to reduce cost, improve sustainability and be more responsive to their brand-customers' ever-changing requirements for colour and feel. Brands in performance outdoor apparel and other clothing markets compete on sustainability and seek textiles with lower impacts in dyeing and manufacturing processes. This is something that regulators are also keen on, because of the significant environmental impacts of water-based dyeing processes for most textiles. These processes are responsible for significant CO2 emissions, water consumption, and toxic effluent discharge. Newer waterless dyeing methods have mostly proven uneconomic and use too much energy. Dope-dyeing is an environmentally friendly, waterless method for dyeing yarn. However, the process requires fabric orders in large \>10tons/colour), making it uneconomical for most clothing brands. The AMPHICOLOR project addresses the environmental and economic challenges of conventional textile dyeing, by developing an automated system to produce textiles in a vast array of colours without using water. This system uses AI and machine learning to predict and achieve precise colour results, ensuring high accuracy and efficiency, using dope-dyed yarns mixed in the weave process to create the colours specified by the customer in economically viable batch sizes. The project promises substantial environmental benefits, including reduced water usage and lower emissions, while also boosting the economic viability of the UK textile industry by lowering production costs and enabling more sustainable practices. AMPHICO has already tested the concept of optical colour-mixing in a small number of colours, confirming technical feasibility. Existing customers (major brands and weaving-mills) have expressed approval at the results and costs, demonstrating a high degree of technical and commercial feasibility.
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