Solvay’s biodegradable yarn Amni® Soul Eco and its bioactive mineral yarn Emana® won innovation awards

World’s first biodegradable polyamide yarn Amni® Soul Eco wins two prizes

Sao Paulo, 11-12-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — Solvay’s biodegradable yarn Amni® Soul Eco and its bioactive mineral yarn Emana® have won several innovation awards this year, recognizing their high value-added benefits to the environment and to its wearers.

Amni® Soul Eco, the world’s first biodegradable polyamide 6.6 yarn, won the Kurt Politzer Technology Award, which was announced during the Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Chemical Industry Association (ABIQUIM). The innovation also won the ECO Award from the American Chamber of Commerce, in the Products and Services category, Sustainability Practices.

Thanks to the innovative formulation of Amni® Soul Eco, polyamide textiles can decompose in merely three years after having been discarded, while traditional polyamide fibers take decades to decompose. Amni® Soul Eco was launched in mid-2014. The yarn is 100% recyclable and has the internationally recognized Oeko-tex certificate (standard 100, class 1), being safe for use in adult, child, and baby apparel.

“As the world’s first biodegradable polyamide fiber, Amni® Soul Eco is a breakthrough in the textile industry and clearly shows our commitment in creating solutions that benefit the environment and the future generations,” said Francisco Ferraroli, President of Solvay’s Global Business Unit Fibras, based in Brazil.

Emana® technology in denim, or jeans, was among the winners of the international ICIS Innovation Awards 2014 in London, with the category Best Product Innovation. Emana® is a polyamide yarn with bioactive minerals that benefit the body and skin. The yarn heat from the human body returns it in the form of long infrared rays. Several independent university and research institute studies have shown that the yarn increases the elasticity of the skin and reduces signs of cellulite. In sportswear, Emana® helps athletes to reduce muscle fatigue and to recover faster. The latest Emana® business segment is denim. The benefits of Emana®-based textiles are permanent, regardless of the number of washings.

The Kurt Politzer Technology Award was launched in 2001 by Abiquim (Associação Brasileira da Indústria Química) to stimulate chemical research and innovation in Brazil. It recognizes technological innovation projects, showing the inventiveness and creativity of companies and researchers. The ECO® Award, launched by Amcham in 1982, was a pioneer in recognizing companies that adopt socially responsible practices and has generated rich reflection on sustainable business development in Brazil. The ICIS Innovation Awards, created in 2003 by one of the leading global information and market intelligence portals in the chemical and energy sectors, recognizes global chemical companies that innovate in products and processes, ways of doing business, and in advances in environmental performance and sustainability.

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Contacts:

Odete Duarte
+55 11 3741 8243

Roberto Custódio
+55 11 3284 5164

As an international chemical group, SOLVAY assists industries in finding and implementing ever more responsible and value-creating solutions. Solvay generates 90% of its net sales in activities where it is among the world’s top three players. It serves many markets, varying from energy and the environment to automotive and aeronautics or electricity and electronics, with one goal: to raise the performance of its clients and improve society’s quality of life. The group is headquartered in Brussels, employs about 29,400 people in 56 countries and generated 9.9 billion euros in net sales in 2013. Solvay SA (SOLB.BE) is listed on EURONEXT Brussels and EURONEXT Paris (Bloomberg: SOLB:BB – Reuters: SOLB.BR).

The South American leader in polyamide 6.6 yarns and fibers, the Fibras global business unit at the Solvay Group has plants in Brazil and has research laboratories in several countries, as well as partnerships and production agreements in Europe and Asia. Innovative and pioneering, the company serves the textile and industrial markets with high value-added products, marketed under the brands Amni, Emana® and Rhodianyl. For further information, please go to www.emanafiber.com and www.amni.com.br

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Solvay’s biodegradable yarn Amni® Soul Eco and its bioactive mineral yarn Emana® won innovation awards