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A NEW fibre developed by the Britishtextile firm Courtaulds - Lyocell - iscausing considerable interest in themarkets in Europe, and now in India.Courtaulds claims that Lyocell blendsthe

favourable qualities of cottonwith those of synthetic fibre, and can bemass produced in an envirpnmentfriendly process. Fibres like cotton are obtained fromplants and are by nature

comfortable,ecologically sound and completelybiodegradable. Moreover, fabrics madefrom plant-based fibres (cellulosic)breathe and absorb moisture, withoutstanding colour yields for brightand

natural colours. On the other hand,synthetic fibres like nylon offer superiorstrength, are more stable, and retaintheir colour better than cellulosic fibres. Fibres made from

petrochemicals,however, are not easily biodegradable.In addition, they do not breathe orare planted to compensate for the loss",says Anil Agarwal, director of the Centrefor Science and

Environment, NewDelhi. But Tencel's unique manufacturing process and its biodegradabilityscore in a big way over the sourcing ofits raw material. Unlike conventional viscose fibre,produced

by chemically digesting thewood pulp leading to heavy gaseousemissions, the Lyocell process consistsof pulpifying the raw material in amineoxide medium, which is fully recoveredin the

process and can be used continuously, to extract the fibre. The processlets out a negligible amount of emissions as a result. Tencel has proven to be a strongfibre, whether wet or dry. Its

tensilestrength, claim Courtaulds, is muchgreater than that of cotton and evenpolyester, when dry. Being a 100 percent cellulosic fibre, it absorbs moistureeffectively, the reason why it

gives comfort equal to that of cotton. "The fibrecan be put to a variety of uses, both inthe original form, as well as in blendswith other synthetic and natural fibres,"says M L Gulrajani,

the head of the textile technology department at the IndianInstitute of Technology, Delhi. He saysthe fabrics made by Tencel exhibitexceptional drape in luxurious handdyed and machine-dyed

colours. Lyocell also scores on fibrillation, orthe coming out of the minute ends ofthe fibre when rubbed hard against arough material, Courtaulds asserts.These minute micro-fibrils can be

engineered to produce unique aestheticeffects. Tencel fabrics are gaining popularity with the top garment designersand labels in the fashion industry in the West. Lyocell was introduced

under thebrand name Tencel in limited quantityin Britain in 1988. It was also marketedin Japan as a luxury fibre. Mass production began in 1992. At present, world-wide production of the

fibre stands at43,000 tonnes. "In the next five years it'sgoing to explode, absolutely explode,"says Michael Glasser, the Californiandesigner whose Democracy Jeans, madefrom Tencel, are

already a hot favouritein the market. Italy's Georgio Armanisays that Lyocell is a great fabric forsportswear. Many textile market expertspredict that Lyocell will soon replacerayon and will

also eat into t