ITMF: Contamination on the Rise since 2009

By Jim.Robinson|February 23, 2012

The International Textile manufacturers Federation’s (ITMF) Cotton Contamination Survey 2011 shows the amount of cotton “modestly or seriously” contaminated, as perceived by the spinning mills from around the world, increased from 22% to 23% since the last survey was conducted in 2009. The 2011 report included feedback from 119 spinning mills in 24 countries, evaluating71 different cotton growths.

A closer look at the extent of the contamination shows that 7% (2009: 6%) of all cotton evaluated was seriously contaminated by some sort of foreign matter, whereas 16% (2009: 15%) was only moderately contaminated. As the summary data are arithmetic averages of the different contaminants, the extent of contamination is fully illustrated only by the results for the individual contaminants.

They range from 5% for “tar” (2009: 4%) to 51% of all cottons processed being moderately or seriously contaminated by “organic matter” such as leaves, feathers, paper and leather. (2009: 42%).
Other serious contaminants include “inorganic matter” (31%), “fabrics made of cotton” (30%), “strings made of woven plastic” (29%), as well as “fabrics made of woven plastic” and “strings made of plastic film” (28% each). The most contaminated cotton descriptions considered for the survey originated in India, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, China and Turkey.

In contrast, very clean raw cottons were produced in the USA, (Texas High Plains, Arizona, Pima, USA-Others, Memphis and California), Syria, Benin, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Greece and Australia.

The presence of sticky cotton – again, as perceived by the spinning mills – increased in 2011 significantly, from a record low of 16% in 2009 to 20% last year. While this level is still lower than the long-term average, the level of stickiness is still considerable and remains a major challenge to the global cotton spinning industry.