New Delhi (NVI): Environmental protection is a common international issue, and it is also the endeavor of many large global companies. Taiwan promotes this concern for the environment by encouraging and awarding companies cutting across sectors who attached importance to and invested in the ‘green’ idea.

Among the winners of the 2020 Taiwan Excellence Award, three Taiwan-based companies from different backgrounds have demonstrated their faith and commitment to environmental protection in their respective fields. They are BenQ Materials, ATUNAS, and JU TIAN CLEANTECH.

BenQ Corporation has achieved the award for its Xpore technology which makes its textiles PFCs free, solvent free and having a Hydrophobic Porous Membrane. In a nutshell, the technology provides ‘nanopores’ to truly breathe.

Xpore is best-in-class waterproof-breathable textile technology that reaches true breathability and keeps things dry and comfortable, according to the company’s website.

At the core of Xpore technology is a layer of unique ultra-thin membrane with 10 billion nanopores in every square inch. The pores are 20,000 times smaller than water droplets, so they perfectly block the rain. But they are large enough for perspiration vapor and airflow to pass through.

BenQ, a well-known leader in the 3C field, established BenQ Materials in 1998 and successfully expanded into healthcare products. In 2016, BenQ Materials once again set its sights on a new field – textiles, and Xpore, a new fabric for outdoor activities, was born.

Outdoor consumer groups are mostly environmentally conscious, and there are already many homogenous competing products in the market.

“Xpore focuses on minimizing the ecological footprint and manufacturing PFCs-Free and Solvent-Free textile,” explained Rex Lee, director of Performance Textiles Business Development Dept of BenQ Materials.

He said that fluoride is often used in outdoor products due to its water-resistant and oil-resistant properties. “Even though it is not easy, we remain committed to taking the path for Xpore.”

Another company that produces apparel that adhere to environmental protection is ATUNAS. “Recently, Taiwanese businessmen have begun to replace suits with our ‘Supercooling shirts’ to reduce air-conditioning carbon emissions and practice environmental protection in daily life,” says Kun Chen, President of ATUNAS, while calling it “eco-friendliness you can wear,” with a smile.

Specializing in outdoor casual wear, they have been actively working on product appearance recently and launching outdoor and office dual-purpose energy-saving shirt.

Another “Green Forest waterproof apparel collection” of ATUNAS has reevaluated each production process. From the production of fabrics to the delivery to consumers, the carbon emissions of the entire process are reduced by 18% compared to before.

“We can proudly say that all of this is made in Taiwan and that the environmental protection practice of ATUNAS is not merely ongoing but also progressive,” says Kun Chen.

The third company that achieved the award is JU TIAN CLEANTECH whose founder Chien-Chung Huang found the answer to what agricultural waste can be used for. Huang, who majored in the circular economy in graduate school, has been trying to convert agricultural waste into biodegradable materials.

“We work with large food factories that produce sugarcane juice and use their waste – bagasse to make straws. These wastes that they had to pay for processing have found new uses, so they are also delighted to see such cooperation,” he said.

JU TIAN’s sugarcane straws can withstand – 20 to 50 °C, and more than 90% can be naturally decomposed after 180 days, significantly reducing the burden of disposable plastic products on the Earth.

-ARK