In a small corner of rural Taiwan, surrounded by other dyehouses and small factories, startup Alchemie Technology is in the final stages of launching a project it claims will disrupt the global apparel industry and slash its carbon footprint.

The UK-based startup is targeting one of the dirtiest parts of the apparel industry – fabric dyeing – with the launch of the world’s first digital dyeing process.

"Traditionally, in the fabric dyeing process, you soak the fabric in water at 135 degrees Celsius for about four hours, which involves gallons and tons of water. For example, to dye one ton of polyester, 30 tons of toxic wastewater is produced ," Alchemie founder Dr. Alan Hudd told me.

"It's the same process that was developed 175 years ago in Lancashire cotton mills and Yorkshire cotton mills in northwest England, and we export it," he points out, first to the United States and then to mills in Asia.

The apparel industry uses an estimated 5 trillion liters of water each year simply to dye fabrics, According to data from the World Resources Institutea non-profit research center based in the United States.

In turn, the industry is responsible for 20% of global industrial water pollution, while also depleting vital resources such as groundwater in some countries. It also releases a massive carbon footprint from start to finish - accounting for about 10% of global annual emissions, According to the United Nations Environment Program.

Alchemie says its technology can help solve this problem.

Its machine, called Endeavor, compresses fabric dyeing, drying and fixation into a significantly shorter and water-saving process.

According to the company, Endeavor uses the same principles as inkjet printing to jet dye onto and through fabric quickly and precisely. The machine's 2,800 dispensers emit approximately 1.2 billion droplets per linear meter of fabric.

"What we effectively do is precisely record and place a water droplet, a very small droplet of water, onto the fabric. We can turn these water droplets on and off, like a light switch," Dr Harder said.

Alchemie claims significant cost savings through this process: water usage is reduced by 95%, energy consumption is up to 85%, and it works three to five times faster than traditional processes.

Originally developed in Cambridge, the company has now come to Taiwan to see how Endeavor works in a real-world environment.

"The UK is very strong in R&D projects, very strong in inventing new things, but if you want to commercialize, you need to go to real factories," said new CEO Ryan Chen. Alchemie has a background in textile manufacturing in Taiwan.

Alchemie isn't the only company experimenting with a nearly waterless dyeing process.

China-based textile company NTX has developed a heatless dyeing process that, according to its website, can reduce water consumption by 90% and 40% of dyes, as is Swedish startup Imogo, which also uses "digital dyeing technology" . Spray application" has similar environmental benefits.

NTX and Imogo did not respond to the BBC's requests for interviews.

Kirsi Niinimäki, a professor of design at Aalto University in Finland who studies the future of textiles, said the solutions offered by these companies look "very promising" - although she added that she would like to see more concrete information on issues such as fixation processes. Long-term study of fabric durability.

Ms Niinimäki said that although it was still early days, companies like Alchemie could bring real change to the industry.

"All these new technologies, I think they're advancements. For example, if you're able to use less water, that certainly means less energy and maybe even less chemicals - so that's certainly a huge improvement ”

Back in Taiwan, there are still some issues to be ironed out – such as how to run the Endeavor machine in a climate that is hotter and more humid than the UK.

Alchemie service manager Matthew Avis, who helped rebuild Endeavor's new factory, discovered that the machines needed to be run in an air-conditioned environment—an important lesson given the volume of garment manufacturing in South Asia.

The company also has some ambitious goals for 2025. After testing polyester in Taiwan, Alchemie is traveling to South Asia and Portugal to test their machines and trial them on cotton.

They also have to figure out how to scale Endeavor.

Large fashion companies such as Inditex, the parent company of Zara, work with thousands of factories. Its suppliers require hundreds of Endeavors to work together to meet its fabric dyeing needs.

This is just one company – there are many, many more companies that need help.