Advanced systems for optimising dyeing and finishing processes, reducing the consumption of water, energy and chemicals

Company and project background

Care Applications is a Spanish technology company specializing in innovative solutions for the textile industry.
The company develops advanced systems that optimize dyeing and finishing processes while reducing water, energy, and chemical consumption. Its technologies help manufacturers improve production efficiency, lower operating costs, and minimize environmental impact without replacing existing machinery. With a strong commitment to sustainability, research, and innovation.
The circular project, H SAVES H2O, started in response to one of the textile industry’s main environmental challenges: the high conductivity of wastewater generated during VAT dyeing due to the intensive use of chemical reducing agents. Building on our existing CLOSE-N technology, we initiated the project to integrate hydrogen (H₂) into the dyeing process, replacing most auxiliary chemicals, reducing wastewater conductivity, lowering energy consumption, and enabling water reuse.

What motivated you to make your business more circular?

The main motivation was the environmental and economic challenge posed by highly conductive wastewater generated during textile dyeing. Traditional dyeing processes require large amounts of sodium hydrosulphite and caustic soda, producing wastewater that requires expensive reverse osmosis treatment before it can be reused.

We also saw an opportunity to help textile manufacturers comply with increasingly demanding sustainability regulations while lowering production costs. By reducing chemical use, energy consumption and wastewater treatment requirements, we could provide customers with both environmental and economic benefits. The project also supports our long-term strategy of promoting circular textile manufacturing through innovative technologies.

Implementation Process

What were the objectives of your project?

The project had several measurable objectives:

• Integrate hydrogen into the existing CLOSE-N technology.
• Replace most chemical reducing agents with hydrogen.
• Reduce wastewater conductivity by around 90%.
• Reduce chemical consumption by approximately 85%.
• Lower energy consumption.
• Produce a scalable prototype ready for industrial implementation while maintaining the same dyeing quality as conventional processes.

What activities did you carry out as part of your project?

The project followed a structured implementation process over twelve months.

First, we designed the hydrogen integration system, studied hydrogen generation alternatives, selected suitable components, and planned modifications to the existing CLOSE-N technology.
Next, we developed the prototype by installing hydrogen injection systems, conductivity and redox sensors, improved recirculation pumps, and software capable of automatically controlling hydrogen dosing.
We then carried out laboratory tests using increasing water volumes (0.4 L, 4 L and finally 25 L), evaluating different water qualities, temperatures and operating conditions. Throughout the project we continuously refined both the hardware and software based on the experimental results.
Finally, pilot dyeing trials compared conventional dyeing with the new hydrogen-assisted process to verify dye quality, reproducibility, chemical savings, conductivity reduction and energy efficiency

What feedback did you receive from stakeholders (customers, suppliers etc.)?

Although the report does not describe formal stakeholder surveys, the project outcomes indicate a strong positive response. The technology demonstrated the same dyeing quality and reproducibility as conventional processes while significantly reducing chemicals, conductivity and energy consumption, making it attractive for textile manufacturers. The project also generated interest from existing customers in Spain, Portugal and Italy who are considered potential industrial-scale partners for the next stage of implementation. CARE also expanded its international commercial network by establishing new agents in Brazil, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and Argentina to support future market deployment.

Impact & Outcomes

What are the main results and outcomes of the project for your company?

The project successfully delivered a fully operational and scalable prototype that is now installed in CARE’s laboratory. It demonstrated that hydrogen can replace most traditional reducing chemicals without compromising dye quality.
For the company, the project has expanded our product portfolio with the new CLOSE-N Combi H solution, strengthened our position as a provider of circular textile technologies, and created significant commercial opportunities. We expect the technology to increase company turnover by approximately 50% over the next five years while creating new technical and commercial jobs.
Beyond financial benefits, the project has reinforced CARE’s reputation as an innovator in sustainable textile processing and strengthened employee engagement around circular innovation.

Did you detect a positive impact of circular transition for your company and for the environment?

The project generated substantial environmental and business benefits.
Key environmental results include:
• 90.5% reduction in wastewater conductivity.
• Approximately 85% reduction in chemical reducing agents.
• 91% reduction in energy consumption by eliminating the need for reverse osmosis treatment.
• Wastewater can be reused directly in terms of conductivity, supporting a circular water management system.
• Improved worker safety through reduced use of hazardous chemicals.
These results met or exceeded our original expectations, demonstrating that circular technologies can simultaneously improve environmental performance and business competitiveness

Which changes have you already implemented?

Several changes have already been successfully implemented:

• Development of an automatic and scalable hydrogen-assisted prototype.
• Integration of hydrogen dosing into the CLOSE-N technology.
• Automatic software control for hydrogen injection.
• Installation of new conductivity, pH and redox monitoring systems.
• Optimised indirect heating system.
• Validated laboratory process demonstrating reproducible dye quality.
• Proven reductions in chemical use, conductivity and energy consumption.
• A ready-to-scale solution prepared for industrial demonstration with existing customers.

These innovations are now integrated into CARE’s technology roadmap and form the basis for future commercial deployment and industrial-scale implementation.

Leassons learned

What key lessons did you learn regarding circular innovation?

We learned that impact scales only when projects adopt a whole‑value‑chain view and actively involve all stakeholders and that data, traceability, and interoperability make or break circular models.
When starting out, we would advise ranking circular concepts by strategic fit (viability/desirability/feasibility) and implementation difficulty vs impact; focus on high impact, manageable risk options first.
What surprised us positively is that KPI are essential when developing a circular technology as we must study realistic business models: circularity must work economically, not only technically.

Did you encounter any challenges?

From a technical point of view, we encountered various obstacles: one of these was optimising and managing the dissolution and gas flow inside the machine, which we finally resolved following exhaustive testing, research and feedback from our stakeholders. We achieved the anticipated 90 per cent reduction in conductivity by optimising the process flow and machine parameters.

If you could do your project again, what would you do differently?

We planned the project with great precision, including all the steps and milestones to be achieved, so that we did not have to modify any of the procedures or key steps we followed during the project.
Although we had to speed up the testing process before the end of the one-year project due to the machine optimisation that took slightly longer than anticipated, we stayed on schedule.

Future plans & Recommendations

What are your next steps towards circular transition?

The technology and prototype have been developed in the Care Applications’ laboratory and we are planning to scale up in production the technology developed within Up2Circ project with one of our partners in Portugal which has installed 4 CLOSE-N already in their Jet dyeing machines. We are looking for new grant opportunities to move from TRL8 to TRL9 and try the technology in production conditions for its deployment. We are also step by step looking for agents with large technical knowledge and a good introduction in every country that makes dyeing production to expand our technologies.

Is there any advice you would give to other SMEs looking to implement a circular project?

A good first step to implement a circular project is to identify a real problem, a pain, quantify it, check who else shares this pain, only then look for the technical solution. This order matters because it’s the reverse of what commonly goes wrong: SMEs often start from an exciting technology and search for a problem afterwards which is how projects end up with technically impressive prototypes that never find a market or a durable business model.

How can policymakers or financial institutions better support businesses in adopting circular practices?

In our point of view, once development is complete, it would be important to continue supporting the roll-out of the technology in production. Textile-producing SMEs are willing to install innovative technology that enables them to become more circular, but grants and/or tax incentives are needed to secure sales. The general political climate is not helping businesses to invest.

Provide a quote/short statement about the project, highlighting its impact.

This project has demonstrated that circularity in the textile sector is not merely a technological advance, but a redesign of the way in which materials, data and partners are interconnected throughout the value chain. What we have demonstrated at pilot scale now requires the right market conditions to continue scaling up. We are keen to find a partner with whom we can demonstrate these impressive key performance indicators (KPIs) for circularity in production, including a 90 per cent reduction in wastewater conductivity, a reduction of 90% of the energy and 85% of chemicals. All these obtaining the same dyeing quality results if compared with traditional.

Do you have any additional comments or reflections about your participation in the Up2Circ project?

Taking part in the Up2Circ project with the HSavesH2O proposal has helped Care Applications to speed up the development of a prototype to expand its range of technologies designed to optimise machinery, reduce resource consumption and produce cleaner wastewater that is easier to reuse. Furthermore, the academy’s online training programme was a very useful tool for gaining an in-depth understanding of the circular economy.