How does 3D printing affect the natural environment in the context of the fashion industry and the production of luxury goods

The Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association (AMGTA) presented the results of a study demonstrating the environmental benefits of additive manufacturing for the fashion industry. The report “Benchmarking: 3D Material Spraying vs. Traditional Luxury Design Methods” presents the results of a year-long collaboration between AMGTA, Stratasys and DYLOAN Bond Factory, a Pattern Group company – the Italian luxury fashion center.

The study involved shifting from traditional manufacturing methods to advanced additive manufacturing to create 16,000 pieces of logo appliques for 8,000 pairs of luxury branded shoes, printed on fabric and produced on a Stratasys J850 Fashion TechStyle 3D printer.

The study showed that:

• the 3D printing process on textiles using additive manufacturing reduces CO2 emissions by 24.8% compared to traditional processes
• Considering the client’s production scope (16,000 printed logos for 8,000 pairs of shoes), additive manufacturing can save almost one metric ton of CO2
• Print-to-Textile solution saves 49.9% of warehouse materials across the entire supply chain, reducing and streamlining transportation needs
• 3D printing on textiles with the J850 TechStyle 3D printer is a waterless process throughout the measured supply chain, potentially saving over 300,000 liters of water
• additive manufacturing reduces electricity consumption by over 64%
• switching to 3D printing technology reduces supply chain dependencies from 4 technologies to 1, with one additional workflow (3 processes omit transportation and logistics)
• the change optimizes production and logistics “stages” from 12 to 2

The study was conducted by Reeves Insight and verified by ACAM Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing GmbH.

“Sustainable production is becoming increasingly important for designers of luxury products, which is also particularly important for Dyloan Bond Factory – Pattern Group Company,” said Loreto Di Rienzo, director of research and development at Pattern Group. “Stratasys’ innovation in 3D printing using TechStyle technology enables us to offer revolutionary opportunities by reducing waste, minimizing dependence on natural resources and optimizing the environmental impact of our entire supply chain.”

Di Rienzo referenced the AMGTA Lifecycle study, saying: “As revealed in the report that Stratasys and Dyloan Bond Factory collaborated on, we can confirm and demonstrate that additive technology truly improves our environmental impact while expanding design freedom without compromising the quality of the end result “

Source: Stratasys press materials