How do we increase the life-time of our textiles?

Our textiles are processed in an industrial laundry context. It means, that the textiles go through washing and drying processes that can be extremely hard on the textiles. Therefore, we use textiles with performance technologies such as BeirTex®. These textiles are made to last. From the yarn composition and thickness and through fabric engineering to the dyeing and finishing processes, the textiles are developed with durability in a laundry context in mind. Our novel BeirTex® quality Q784 is a result of extensive research and development in the field. We tested the quality in real-life by letting it run through a normal laundry process 300 times. At our lab, we tested the "feel" and "look" as well as the strength of the quality. Even we were surprised to see that it still looks brand-new. With an average of 20 wash cycles per year, a 300 wash cycle life-time means an expected technical lifetime of 15 years - and still feeling new. This is simply incredible.

Source: Beirholm Q784 BeirTex® performance test, 2020

How do we save CO2 emissions?

We compared Nor Tekstil's CO2e emissions with those of the average European industrial laundry. The average laundry emits 0,33 kg CO2e per kg of textile laundered while Nor Tekstil emits only 0,198 kg CO2e per kg of textile laundered. This means, that Nor Tekstil emits about 40% less CO2e per kg textile laundered compared to the average European industrial laundry. Why? Nor Tekstil is on a journey of continuous improvement in the laundry. The laundry expertise of the operators combined with the purchase of textiles with performance technologies like BeirTex® and using the most modern laundry machinery technology allows Nor Tekstil to reduce ressource consumption per kilo of laundry processed. Further, Nor Tekstil is proud to be the only laundry in Norway transparently publishing KPIs on sustainability and proactively improving them.

Source: ETSA WECO Survey 4, 2015; Nor Tekstil Bærekraftsrapport 2019

How do we reduce microplastics?

All textiles release fibres when washed whether cotton, polyester or other material fibres. Microplastics stem from polyester fiber release. And it is a problem that we work hard on solving. We have developed a textile technology called BeirTex®, which reduces microplastic effluent by 40% compared to good market standard polyester-cotton linen. The reason for the reduced microplastic release is that the BeirTex®-technology relies on a yarn spinning method where cotton is spun around a polyester core. Compared to conventional spinning methods, where polyester and cotton is just intermixed, the positioning of polyester as a core means that less fibers are released during washing.

Source: The latest facts and research on microplastics from textiles, 2019 press release from Beirholm\'s Vaeverier

How do we generate societal impact beyond our businesses?

Nor Tekstil has partnered up with UNICEF on providing clean drinking water to people in need of what we deem one of the most basic human needs. In Norway, we take it for granted that we have access to free and clean drinking water. But in many countries - in particular also in those where we purchase our textiles - access to clean drinking water is limited. Therefore, we support UNICEF's water projects with 2 mio. NOK over 5 years to create better access to clean drinking water.

Beirholm and Sapphire also goes beyond to support the local communities in which they operate. At Sapphire, we train people with special needs so that they are able to obtain jobs within textile manufacturing. We support schooling and universities. And we have several initiatives in place to support women within our company. And since 2011, Beirholm contributes to education in Paistan through their partnership with The Citizens Foundation. Through this initiative we provide financial support for the establishment and maintenance of the U.I. Trust Campus School in Karachi, Pakistan. With our donation, 190 children can attend nursery to 5th grade of school. 49% of the children are girls and 51% are boys. And to encourage families to send their girls to school, all teachers working at the school are women.