Printful Look To Kornit Digital In A Market Where Sustainable Fashion Is The New Norm

Image Courtesy of PXhere

Sustainable fashion is a scientific, data-driven movement that aims to make sure that our clothes are manufactured, sold, and used in the most sustainable way possible.

It wants to change the industry on all levels of the supply chain, starting from sourcing the materials to producing and selling apparel.

What’s more, sustainable fashion doesn’t just champion changes that are good for the environment.

It also aims to address the social issues that concern the workers of the industry, such as low wages and poor working conditions.

Printful find it promising that the call for sustainable fashion comes from customers.

People are aware of the industry’s problems and they want to do better, demanding that companies follow along.

Retail chains are realizing they also have to comply with what people are asking for.

But brands have to understand that they have to go deeper than simply using marketing buzzwords to appease an eco-conscious audience.

Printful aim to make the printing itself as eco-friendly as possible.

Printful have  invested $27 million in state-of-the-art printing equipment, and will continue investing in the newest technologies from companies who care about sustainable fashion.

Printful are  proud to partner with the specialists of DTG printing, Kornit.

Thanks to their commitment to and efforts in sustainability, Kornit printers produce almost zero wastewater and use less energy, lowering Prinful’s  carbon footprint.

Direct-to-garment (DTG) printing is more sustainable than older apparel printing methods, such as screen printing.

Not only does screen printing use a lot of water and plastisol inks that don’t biodegrade, but it’s also tended towards bulk orders which can lead to overproduction.

In comparison, DTG printing is more eco-friendly because items get printed only when there’s already a customer for them

The Neo Pigment inks Kornit use for printing are water-based and free of harmful chemicals. The water-based NeoPigment™ inks are absolutely free of heavy metals, formaldehyde and Alkylphenol Ethoxylates (APE), making them non-hazardous, non-toxic and biodegradable.

As part of a waterless printing system, the biodegradable ink and energy saving process makes Kornit an eco-friendly printing solution.

Printful take care to dispose of any left-over ink according to their supplier guidelines, so they’re not harming the environment.

Prinftul offer a Print-on-demand (POD) service that  might just be one of the keys to an environmentally friendly fashion industry.

Printful’s product catalog and stock, printing techniques and equipment, and the way they run their facilities help their customers work towards owning sustainable fashion brands.

The biggest advantage POD companies have over big fashion retailers is that on-demand produces less waste.

Traditional shopping chains produce items to sell, so they’re always manufactured in bulk to save money.

By contrast,  Printful only prints a product when a customer places an order for it, creating items that already have a known buyer. 

This lets Printful  avoid overproduction—excess items that don’t get sold and have to be thrown out or burned, which several retail giants do.

With 92 million tons of textile going to waste in the fashion industry each year, a business model like this is a game-changer.

Waste in POD mainly comes from the items that are damaged during printing, and Printful’s rate for damaged items is within the industry standard.

Printful donates returned items to local charities and offers damaged apparel to animal shelters who can use them for their needs.

The products Prinful  print on and where they source them also matter.

That’s why their team of merchandisers is constantly working on adding new items to their product catalog, and one of their 2020 goals is to diversify Printful’s collection of organic and eco-friendly products.