Sportstextiles Issue 3 2025

Page 1


30th YEAR

A

Sort out the sorting Free (nearly) raw material Who will produce for Europe?

A new swimsuit, developed by Catalonia­based brand Ruby Moon. The company says a low­cost, versatile method for recycling pre­ and post­consumer polyamide 6­elastane materials allows it to describe the swimsuit as circular.

IMAGE: CHRIS PARKES/RUBY MOON

Editor Stephen Tierney

Deputy editor

Clare Grainger

Consultant technical editor

Sophie Bramel

Consultant editor

David Buirski

Publisher Simon Yarwood

Design

Tim Button

Subscriptions manager

John Collins

Administration

Lisa Fabian­Smith

Editorial enquiries

stephen@worldtrades.co.uk

10 Full stretch

Textile­to­textile recycling is making progress for items made from cotton, polyester, and blends of both. Fabrics containing elastane are more of a challenge, but there is promise of progress.

14 Carrots and sticks for recycling

Sorting used textiles is complex. While regulatory changes threaten sanctions on products that are ‘non­rewearable’, recyclers can also offer positive incentives to help drive progress.

18 Newcomers: Second nature

Two new biotech protein fibres are in the works at start­up Tandem Repeat. What began in a lab at Penn State University is now close to being ready for market.

20 Rise to the Challenge: Chargeurs PCC and Karl Mayer

A longstanding partnership between a fabric manufacturer and a textile machinery developer has delivered a weft­insertion innovation that, in turn, has produced the lightest three­layer fabric on the market.

26 Sustainability: Regulatory burdens

A senior industry figure in Asia is questioning the ongoing viability of manufacturing garments for the European market.

Footwear technology: Recovery time

Nike is backing a boot that Hyperice developed to democratise athlete recovery technology.

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30 Dialogue: Edu Uribesalgo, Ternua

The Basque outdoor brand’s director of innovation and sustainability on the inspiration the company derives from the need to keep the cycle of life turning.

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Trades Publishing 2025

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Global news

France US­based textile recycler Circ has announced that it will build its first industrial­scale plant in Saint­Avold, in north­east France. The $500 million project has received backing from the French government and European Union. Circ uses a hydrothermal technology to break down polycotton blends into cellulose powder and polyester monomers. The facility could process 70,000 tonnes of textile waste yearly and begin operations in 2028 with a staff of 200.

Spain Reports from Spain say fabric mill Tejidos Royo is to locate all of its operations in one site, its factory in Alcúdia de Crespins, 65 kilometres south of the city of Valencia. Until now, the company has run its spinning and dyeing operations in Alcúdia, while its fabric mill and finishing operations have taken place at a site Tejidos Royo has run at Picassent, 50 kilometres away. Local media reports say the change is an attempt on the part of Tejidos Royo to lower production costs.

Italy Open­cell foam technology developer Cirql has announced a new strategic agreement with soling materials producer Frasson. Italy­based Frasson specialises in supercritical foaming and injection moulding for footwear components. Cirql said this new partnership would solidify its presence in Europe and will allow it to supply European footwear brands with “cutting­edge recycled polymer technology for high­performance midsoles and outsoles”.

Finland Fibre development company Spinnova has said it is looking for brands to help it build a new international consortium of companies. It aim is to work with the brands to scale up production of and demand for its wood­based fibre. In parallel, it said it had reached agreement to acquire full ownership of the assets that it set up in 2021 with former business partner Suzano. These include a demo factory.

Belgium Domo Chemicals, based in Ghent, has announced the launch of new biobased polyamide 6 resins under its Domamid brand. They are derived from a mass balance approach and carry International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus certification, the company said. Domamid MBB (for Mass Balanced Biocircular) polymers can have up to 69% bio content. It prioritises materials that do not compete with the food value chain.

Germany Adidas’ latest addition to its cooling range, the ClimaCool Laced, has been designed and printed as a single piece, built layer by layer and blending upper and midsole elements through a single material. The ClimaCool shoe, revealed in September 2024, was the first exploration of the additive manufacturing process. The new laced version includes a process that allows for precise tailoring of all zones to deliver different benefits.

The Netherlands French textile recycling company Reju has announced that it had chosen the Chemelot Industrial Park in Sittard­Geleen in the Netherlands as the location for its first industrial scale recycling centre. “This is where we will prove that textile­to­textile circularity at scale is achievable,” commented Patrik Frisk, CEO of Reju.

Switzerland Japan­based trading company MN Inter­Fashion has acquired the trademark rights to Ventile. Ventile is a weather­resistant cotton fabric developed in the 1930s. Talbot Weaving in the UK produced Ventile and the material built up a track record of being effective in mountaineering and polar expeditions. In the 1990s, Zurich­based fabric developer Stotz & Co AG became the sole producer of Ventile under a contract manufacturing arrangement with Talbot Weaving. Stotz then acquired the Ventile business in 2017.

Japan Athletic footwear and apparel brand ASICS has won the right to called itself a Sustainability Transformation (SX) brand. Japan’s ministry for the economy and the Tokyo Stock Exchange jointly assess companies for SX status and award the designation to businesses that “strive to improve long­term, sustainable corporate value” by synchronising business success with sustainability. This is the second year of the SX programme and a total of 13 companies have made the grade this year.

l The fibres division of Tokyo­based industrial group Teijin has developed a new stretch fabric with an extra­fine three­dimensional structure. It combines what the manufacturer has described as “exceptional elasticity with a soft, airy texture and a natural uneven surface”. It said this helps make the fabric lightweight with good drying and moisture­wicking performance as well. It will launch the fabric for the autumn­winter 2026 season and will aim to sell 100,000 metres of it in the first fiscal year and 1 million metres within three years.

US Three years in the making, and an evolution of its FlyKnit technology, Nike is introducing FlyWeb, a new 3D­printed material. The first product to feature the new material is a bra made from a single, seamless layer which is said to “unlock airflow” as opposed to most multilayered sports bras. It is made from TPU, more of a plastic than a textile material, which Nike describes as a “soft, pliable polymer”.

Thailand Indorama Ventures has announced that it has expanded its offering of textile­to­textile recycled polyester fibres and filament yarns. The Bangkok­based conglomerate now offers high­tenacity yarns for industrial and technical applications alongside its recycled yarns for apparel and home textiles. The company has committed to switching 40% of its current commodity production to recycled and biobased feedstock by 2030.

Australia Canadian activewear brand Lululemon has announced that it had signed a 10­year offtake agreement with Australian recycler Samsara Eco. This could lead to the Australian start­up supplying up to 20% of the fibres used by the activewear brand, though specific volumes have not been revealed. The two companies have been collaborating for several years. Samsara will open a factory in New South Wales later this year and plans to open a commercial facility outside Australia in 2028.

China Chemical group Tangshan Sanyou has opened a new pilot facility aimed at advancing its production of man­made cellulosic fibre (MMCF). It will trial a new solvent­based process that converts waste cotton textiles into viscose fibres that it will use to make its ReVisco recycled MMCF product. This pilot line will have a production capacity of ten tonnes. This development builds on several years of investment by the company in integrating new solutions into its MMCF offering.

l Outdoor clothing brand Kalito has invested in robot­driven fabric cutting machines. The Wuxi­based manufacturer said it had built up its business steadily over the last decade and now wanted to invest in high­end technology to keep growing. Joint managing director Tommy Evensen, who is from Norway, said robot­driven fabric cutting was Kalito’s latest investment. It has bought several machines from the KP­A range that technology provider Yinentech has developed.

l A South China­dwelling spider that makes four metre webs and is capable of eating snakes is the inspiration behind a fibre that can provide skin­friendly properties. Chinese synthetic biotechnology company Link Spider studies the DNA of insects and animals, and can replicate them into proteins that can be embedded into yarns.

Co­founder Suzan Liang told Sportstexiles that despite the spiders’ size, they are “lovely”. “They are not venomous and not harmful to humans.”

Taiwan Creative Tech Textile, based in Taiwan, has revealed details of its innovative Seawool yarn, which is partially made from discarded oyster shells. Dubbed the ‘emerald from the ocean’, Seawool generates around $6 million in annual revenue and is quickly gaining global traction, the company said. It currently produces 2,500 tonnes annually, repurposing approximately 500 tonnes of oyster shells.

People

Fighting talk

Athletic footwear and apparel group Nike has reported full-year results for the 12 months ending May 31, 2025. Group revenues were $46.3 billion, a decline of 10% compared to the previous year.

Sales of Nike products contributed $44.7 billion, which represents a decline of 9% year on year.

The Converse brand contributed almost $1.7 billion to the group’s total, down by 19% year on year.

Chief executive, Elliott Hill, who took up the role in October 2024, told analysts the results were not up to standard for Nike. He said the group was working to reposition its business around having distinct products for key sports. “We are in a fight in every sport,” he said, “and each sport has different competitors.”

Better Cotton names new chief executive

Cotton sustainability initiative Better Cotton has announced Nick Weatherill as its new chief executive. He takes over from Alan McClay, who has led the organisation since 2015.

Based in Geneva, Nick Weatherill is a former executive director of the International Cocoa Initiative, where he led efforts to drive solutions across the cocoa supply chain. Parallels with cotton are that cocoa beans are a crop that grows only in specific geographies while also being a globally traded commodity.

Mr Weatherill said he viewed Better Cotton’s work as “vital for the whole sector”. He added that the organisation’s impact on the quality of cotton and the livelihoods of millions of farmers and workers was increasing.

Lacoste appoints luxury veteran as CEO

Sports brand Lacoste has named Éric Vallat as CEO, succeeding Thierry Guibert, who has served as CEO of Lacoste since 2015.

Mr Vallat has held various leadership roles within LVMH Group, at Louis Vuitton in Europe and Christian Dior Couture in Japan.

He went on to lead the houses of Bonpoint and J.M. Weston, served as CEO of Rémy Martin, and later oversaw the fashion and accessories division of the Richemont Group.

Thierry Guibert, CEO of Lacoste-owner MF Brands Group, said: “I’m very pleased to entrust the reins of Lacoste to Éric Vallat, a bold leader with a recognised track record. His sharp expertise and proven experience will be major assets in continuing to unlock the brand’s full potential.”

Chief executive of Zhongqiao Sports leaves for Amer

The former chief executive of Chinese group Zhongqiao Sports, Jeffery Ma, is the new president for China for Amer Sports. He has taken over from John Yao, who left the group to take up a new leadership role elsewhere.

Mr Ma previously worked at Topsports and at adidas. He took up his new role on July 1 and is based in Shanghai.

Amer chief executive, James Zheng, commented: “I am very pleased to have Jeffery Ma starting to lead Amer Sports in China. Jeffery brings a wealth of business and organisation leadership experience from fast-growth businesses in our industry.”

Conservation focus

Hamburg­based non­profit organisation the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) has appointed Louisa Lösing to its cotton advisory board. AbTF administers the Cotton made in Africa standard. Louisa Lösing has extensive experience of working in developing organisations. She spent eight years working at the GIZ development agency before moving in 2022 to conservationfocused organisation the Global Nature Fund (GNF). She is now GNF’s deputy head of biodiversity.

Advice line

Following Mango’s decision in June to partner with Circulose, the two organisations have announced a further tie­up. Chair of the Circulose board of directors, Helena Helmersson, is to become an independent advisor to Mango. She became chair of Circulose in December last year. She took up the role after 26 years at one of Mango’s biggest rivals, H&M, spending her last four years there as chief executive.

Home ground

The chief executive of outdoor brand 66° North, Helgi Óskarsson, has shared with readers of the Financial Times the delights of Iceland’s Westfjords peninsula. In a piece for the newspaper’s Travel section, Mr Óskarsson extolled the range of outdoor activities available to visitors to the remote region in Iceland’s far north­west. Activities he recommended included hiking, trail­running, sitting in hot tubs, kayaking, paddle­boarding, sailing, fishing and, in winter, skiing. He explained that 66° North’s origins are in this region, making protective clothing for fishermen from the communities there.

Footwear return

The chief commercial officer of Swiss sports group Mammut, Felix Muennich has joined footwear group Deckers Brands. He will be Deckers’ general manager for Europe and will be based in Amsterdam. Mr Muennich, is no stranger to footwear retail, having spent more than 10 years in various commercial roles at Nike before moving to Mammut. Earlier in his career, he also worked at Umbro.

Former pro golfer takes Carbitex role

Developer of flexible carbon fibre composites Carbitex has announced Jen Hanna as its new vice-president of sales for the US market.

Ms Hanna joins Carbitex from yarn manufacturer Quantum Materials where she was director of sales of the group’s Innegra durable synthetic fibre. She was president of Innegra before its acquisition by Quantum at the end of 2023.

Her interest in materials innovation grew during her time as a professional golfer. She made her debut on the LPGA tour in 2000 and, in her time in the professional game, secured three top-ten finishes. In 2005, she achieved a hole-in-one at the Corning Classic event. She later became a golf coach.

In her newly created role at Carbitex, she will lead the company’s US sales and relations with brand partners in performance footwear, travel and accessories. She will be based in South Carolina.

She said joining Carbitex would allow her to combine her love of sport, competition and technology, and “the relentless pursuit of performance through innovation”.

“The way materials can optimise performance, especially in sports, is something I’ve always been fascinated by,” she added. “I'm excited to be part of a team that is redefining what is possible and to help drive the future of high-performance materials.”

Chief executive appointment at Brrr

Cooling fabric technology developer Brrr has announced Christopher Heyn as its new chief executive.

Mr Heyn has been the Atlanta-based company’s executive chairman, but will now assume the role of chief executive to lead it in what it called a new phase of innovation and growth.

His track-record in apparel and performance apparel includes a spell as chief executive of Lion Brothers before its acquisition by Avery Dennison. He also worked at Nautica and at the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He insisted Brrr was “ideally positioned to scale across multiple markets” with its offer of “authentic and impactful solutions” to support a more comfortable lifestyle.

New set­up for marketing Schoeller solutions

Textile chemicals developer Texticolor is to acquire Schoeller Technologies and take over its role of marketing the textile technologies that Schoeller Textil develops.

Under Texticolor’s ownership, the activity of bringing these technologies to market will continue, but under the Texticolor brand identity.

Existing partnerships and customer relationships will continue. Former chief operating officer of Schoeller Technologies, Hans Kohn, said the established partner network will be strengthened by “the expanded possibilities of Texticolor”.

Chief executive of Texticolor, Detlef Fischer, commented: “We are not only gaining renowned technologies, but also a highly qualified team with unique expertise. We will continue to develop and refine the products manufactured to date in this partnership in order to continue to provide our customers with future-oriented and sustainable technologies.”

Under the new set-up, Hans Kohn will be the head of brand management. He said: “Both companies share a common vision: the development of high-performance, sustainable and innovative textile solutions for a responsible future.”

Bold spirit

Clothing group VF Corporation has appointed Valentina Visconti Prasca as president of its Napapijri outdoor brand. Ms Visconti Prasca joins from online fashion brand Yoox, where she was managing director. In this new role, for which she will be based at VF’s European headquarters in Stabio, Switzerland, she said she looked forward to leading an “authentic, design­led brand that blends history with innovation”. She said that what she liked most about Napapijri was its “bold, unexpected spirit”.

Structurally healthy

Golf equipment, footwear and clothing group Acushnet Holdings has reported revenues of $703.4 million for the first quarter of 2025. This figure is down by 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year, but chief executive, David Maher, said the group had had a good start to 2025 and was well positioned to do well in the spring and summer, the peak golf season in the northern hemisphere. Mr Maher said: “The golf industry remains structurally healthy, with the number of participants growing.”

Long jumper joins up

Twice Olympic gold medal winner in the long jump, Miltiadis Tentoglou, has joined the roster of official Puma athletes. At Paris 2024, the Greek athlete became the first person since Carl Lewis to defend an Olympic title successfully. He won the gold medal there with a jump of 8.48 metres, to add to his gold at Tokyo 2020, where he achieved 8.41 metres. Puma’s director of marketing for athletics, Pascal Rolling, said that watching Miltiadis Tentoglou’s performance in Paris had been a thrill.

Huge energy at Berghaus

Outdoor brand Berghaus has appointed Adam Field as its new vice­president for marketing. Mr Field has previously worked at fashion brand Reiss, Nike and Chelsea FC. He said his conversations with Berghaus and with parent group Pentland Brands had made it clear to him that there is “huge energy, ambition and momentum behind the Berghaus brand”. The brand recently launch in the US and said it wanted to build on this, on its “strong foundations” in the UK and established presence across Europe to keep expanding globally.

Industry & Innovation

Coats moves to acquire OrthoLite

Coats Group has reached a definitive agreement to acquire insole materials manufacturer OrthoLite. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Coats gave an initial value of $770 million for the deal.

This could rise by a further $10 million depending on OrthoLite’s revenues in 2025. OrthoLite has confirmed that its open-cell foam technology brand Cirql is also part of the deal.

Coats said it believes bringing OrthoLite into the group will also offer the opportunity to make $20 million in annual cost savings by 2028. It expects to close the deal in the fourth quarter of this year.

Following its acquisition of Texon and Rhenoflex in 2022, Coats developed a strategy to become what it has called a “super tier-two supplier for footwear components”. It said its acquisition now of OrthoLite represented a “compelling strategic fit” and would accelerate this plan, “significantly strengthening the existing Coats footwear business through expansion into the attractive, high-growth premium insole segment”.

Group chief executive, David Paja, said the combination of Coats and OrthoLite was “fantastic news” for both companies and for the footwear industry. “It brings together two global leaders with a shared vision for innovation and sustainability,” he added.

For his part, OrthoLite founder and chief executive, Glenn Barrett, said the deal would provide a platform for OrthoLite and Cirql to continue to serve customers “with the most innovative and sustainable footwear components in the world”.

Fresh ideas

Future Fabrics Expo took place over a busy couple of days in London in late June, with exhibitors commenting it had seemed busier than previous years, particularly on the first morning.

The show, which bills itself as a responsible sourcing platform rather than a traditional trade show, seeks to present textiles with a lower footprint, offering more sustainable alternatives to conventional cotton and virgin polyester, which make up the majority of the world’s textiles.

Show organiser The Sustainable Angle confirmed more than 2,000 visitors, ranging from the luxury brands through to mass market, smaller brands and students, visited the show to view fresh ideas from established companies’ latest developments and start-ups.

Among start-ups and novel ideas on display around the show were materials made from algae foam, corn, biobased plastics, with performance attributes mimicking those of spiders, bees and squid.

Decades with

Desma

Footwear technology developer Desma has paid tribute to automation specialist ABB. The two companies have now been partners for more than 40 years. Desma said their joint story started in the 1980s when it began using robotics technology that ABB had adapted specially for shoe production. Soon after these beginnings, the two technology providers worked jointly on a successful project with adidas. “In shoe factories, robots can take over tasks such as roughing, spraying release agents and applying adhesive with the highest precision,” Desma said.

Launch partners

Textile­to­textile recycling specialist Syre has announced Houdini Sportswear, Gap and retail group Target as launch partners. It said its partners would play a critical role in bringing “circular polyester” to the wider market. Syre launched in March 2024 as a spin­off from fashion group H&M with a mission to set up textile­to­textile plants to produce what it calls circular polyester across the globe.

In pieces

Research engineers at the Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS) at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), in New York, have developed an automated system to dismantle used clothing for recycling. The device combines artificial intelligence and laser­cutting to identify and remove hard points such as zippers and buttons, as well as logos and mixed materials that can contaminate feedstock. A first prototype has been built with input from Nike, Goodwill and Ambercycle.

Instant integration

Circ, the developer of a recycling process that reverts poly­cotton textiles back into the building blocks for polyester and cotton powder, and Selenis, a global producer of polyester, are to launch industrial production of Circ polyester in Europe. The companies have been working together since 2023. Derived from textile waste, the partners have said Circ polyester is of high quality and can be used in apparel. The pellets the new factory will produce will integrate seamlessly into existing supply chains, they said.

CREDIT: ORTHOLITE

Muscle movement

Sports group Decathlon has incorporated Rheon into new running tights that its Kiprun brand will bring to market in its autumn-winter 2025-2026 collection.

This will be Decathlon’s first use of Rheon, which its developer, London-based Rheon Labs, has described as “a reactive super-polymer”. In this application, it will help focus wearers’ energy and reduce muscle movement.

Rheon remains soft and flexible during everyday use, the material developer has explained, but stiffens in response to sudden movement or impact. “The result is support that adapts to the body’s needs in real time,” it says, “improving comfort, control and performance without sacrificing freedom of movement.”

Following the launch of the new Kiprun tights, Decathlon intends to build on its partnership with Rheon Labs. It will use the polymer to develop advanced materials for a wide range of sports.

Textile innovation lead at Decathlon, Aurélien Corbier, commented: “Innovation truly matters when it empowers everyone. By partnering with Rheon Labs, we are taking materials designed for athletes and making them accessible to all. This aligns perfectly with our focus on providing excellent products for everyone.”

Think ink

Colour technology start-up Sparxell has made its first “textile ink” product commercially available. The ink is derived from plant-based pigments, leading Sparxell to describe it as a “bio-inspired, biodegradable colouring solution”. It said this could help textile manufacturers and clothing brands eliminate toxic dyes, plastics, mined metals and minerals from their production processes.

To start with, the ink will be available in blue, with matte and shimmer finishes. Sparxell has said it will add other colours in the course of 2025, adding that “virtually unlimited colour variations” will be possible.

Partner company, Positive Materials, has teamed up with Sparxell for this launch. It will process orders Sparxell receives.

Founded by University of Cambridge scientists Dr Benjamin Droguet and Professor Silvia Vignolini, Sparxell has harnessed “structural colour principles” found in nature. The founders have worked to engineer plant-based cellulose “at the microscale” to create vibrant colours through light manipulation rather than through any chemical formula.

Future­forward fabrics from Eurojersey

Maker of high-tech Sensitive warp knit fabrics, Eurojersey, exhibited at Milano Unica in July with a new collection targeting fashion and sports. “We believe we have the products for tomorrow’s urban tech wear,” general manager Andrea Crespi told Sportstextiles. When consumer spending returns, he said, “they will not buy in the same way as today”. They may tire, he suggested, of low-quality fast and ultra-fast fashion clothing. Sensitive fabrics are manufactured in Italy and will keep their look and feel for longer, he pointed out.

Michela Delle Donne, marketing manager, said that the sportswear segment was growing at Eurojersey, citing cycling and running as strong markets for the company. Sensitive fabrics are also being adopted by golfwear brands including Honma (Hong Kong), Descente (Japan) and Fila (South Korea). Ms Della Donna pointed out the smart design details that these brands are introducing, including accordion pleats at the shoulders for ease of swing, bonded seams and engineered breathability through punched Sensitive fabrics.

Small scale

Last year Swiss sports brand On presented LightSpray, a new performance shoe whose textile upper is made using an automated manufacturing process. In recent weeks, the brand officially inaugurated its first LightSpray production facility in its headquarters in Zurich.

In the small-scale Industry 4.0 factory, four robots produce LightSpray uppers from a single 1,500 m long filament. Similar to a 3D-printing process, it forms an upper in 3 minutes. The LightSpray models will thus be partially made in Switzerland.

Company founders Caspar Coppetti, David Allemann and Olivier Bernhard said that other such production facilities would be installed worldwide.

Recycled content

Fashion group Mango has invested in The Post Fiber. Based in Sabadell in Catalonia, The Post Fiber launched last year to put a textile­to­textile recycling operation in place. ModaRe, a take­back programme run by charity organisation Caritas, textile manufacturer Textil Santanderina, garment producer Hallotex and machinery developer Margasa set up The Post Fiber together. Mango has launched a limited­edition capsule collection that comprises T­shirts and sweatshirts with around 80% recycled content. Of this recycled content, 15% comes from The Post Fiber.

Plastic­free

An outdoor brand that has committed to making plastic­free clothing has used water­repellent organic cotton from Ventile in two of the jackets in its debut collection. The brand, Cévène, has put in place core principles to “redefine sustainable fashion”. These include using only natural fibres, designing for sustainability, and for its products to be biodegradable. Its Hooded Travel Jacket 360 and its Waterproof Windbreaker 200 are the products that it has made with Ventile.

Zero­carbon PA6 in Vaude backpack

Outdoor brand Vaude has used a polyamide 6 with a product carbon footprint of zero in a new backback. It said the new Trailcontrol Zero 20+ backpack for cyclists is constructed with Ultramid Zero PCF fibres from BASF. In its production of Ultramid Zero PCF, BASF uses renewable electricity and biomethane and bio­based feedstock from used cooking oil instead of fossil raw materials.

Factory revamp

Japanese sportswear brand Asics’ subsidiary Sanin Asics will be renamed Onitsuka Innovative Factory Corporation and will become a dedicated production base for Onitsuka Tiger.

The newly rebranded facility is scheduled to begin operations in January 2026 and aims to become a hub for innovation and craftsmanship.

The transformation of the factory into a dedicated Onitsuka Tiger production site is intended to strengthen collaboration with the Asics Institute of Sport Science and the Onitsuka Tiger Design Center in Milan.

Renovation plans include the creation of an Onitsuka Tiger Gallery, showcasing the brand’s history, archive shoes and notable collaborations.

Backtrack

15 July 2025

Marketing appointment at Berghaus

Imbotex takes a (very) broad view on recycling

Nona Source creates first fabric from deadstock yarn

14 July 2025

Fans are the models for Kappa’s campaign for Genoa CFC

New twist on heritage craft using seaweed extracts

11 July 2025

Milano Unica expands international scope

Impacts down at Nilit

Source to boost UK makers with paid­for pavilion

10 July 2025

Tencel makes positive contribution to circularity

A comeback for Ellesse in the US

FESI and WFSGI back women leadership initiative

New board members at Wolverine Worldwide

09 July 2025

Innovation in lightweight performance

Coffee grounds and mulberry silk add power for Textrends

08 July 2025

Cotton estimates for 2025­2026

revised upwards

A touch of texture from JRC Reflex

07 July 2025

Cycling move from Decathlon

Record results as Footasylum puts JD Sports turmoil behind it

04 July 2025

BioBlack achieves GOTS compliance

Special Wimbledon celebration for Babolat

Vietnam secures new US trade deal just in time

03 July 2025

Textile mills develop Brewed Protein blends and prints

Needs of everyday runners inform new adidas collection

Change of distribution for Sanitized

Limitations on space make it impossible for us to run more than a carefully selected sample of industry news in Sportstextiles magazine. However, we publish hundreds more stories on www.sportstextiles.com, one of the most comprehensive archives of news anywhere on the web for textiles, apparel, footwear and equipment for sports and outdoor. Below are just some of the headlines that have appeared on the site in recent weeks.

02 July 2025

Copy complaint against Costco from Lululemon

Industry veteran’s ‘slower’ brand opens Salt Lake City store

Climate­adaptive textiles from Reggiani and Outlast

01 July 2025

On Running supplier raises fresh funds

London racket exhibition coincides with start of Wimbledon

Lenzing underpins three ‘circular’ footwear launches

30 June 2025

RE&UP breakfast charts fibre­to­fibre progress

Tariffs to cost Nike $1 billion this year

Circular Textiles Foundation pushes for action

27 June 2025

Outdoor brand expands hemp range

26 June 2025

CEO sees progress in key parts of H&M’s business

‘Plastic­free’ elastics development from Lenzing

25 June 2025

Woolmark backing brings Colourizd to a new market

Ortovox introduces MTB range for Spring/Summer 2026

24 June 2025

Spikes from the 1990s inspire new Puma running shoe

rPET pioneer enters examinership

Matches bankruptcy spoils

Perfect Moment

23 June 2025

Ventile partners with plastic­free outdoor brand

20 June 2025

Major fashion brand signs up as Circulose’s first ‘scaling partner’

Better Cotton eyes regenerative standard

Growth plans for Beyond Yoga

19 June 2025

Football boot for women follows rugby launch from adidas

Nap­inducing concept garment

Wellness and AI on the agenda at Outdoor Retailer

18 June 2025

Effects of Serbia decision show in Aku results

Brands pool resources to boost Material Facts toolkit

17 June 2025

Reflo creates golf capsule for The Open Scandinavian brands back climate pledge

Mono­material march continues for Ternua

16 June 2025

Emissions targets announced by Chargeurs PCC

French tech show features smart solutions for textiles

Safilin: Hemp sector needs support

13 June 2025

Limited­edition women’s trail running range

Microban introduces water­repellent finish

Ackermann diverts Canada Goose’s flight path

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Textile­to­textile recycling is making progress for items made from pure cotton or polyester, and blends of both. Fewer solutions are available for fabrics made from blends of other fibres. Those containing elastane are considered the most challenging. Yet they are ubiquitous. Concerned parties are investigating promising solutions.

A stretch for circularity

Is elastane a contaminant or a potential revenue stream? Spandex, as it is also called, is present in small concentrations in apparel, but it plays a huge role in a garment’s fit, comfort and longevity. There is little reason to believe that for the purpose of building a circular fashion system, where fibres remain in the loop for multiple lifecycles, brands or designers will resist the temptation to continue using elastane.

A report on the presence of elastane in clothing in the UK found it to be present in 34% of millions of items available for sale online. Matter to Market, a consultancy specialising in bringing next­gen fibres to market, screens the presence of different fibre families in apparel, drawing on data collected by Edited, a London­based retail intelligence platform.

By product category, the stretch fibre is mentioned on the care and composition labels of 52% of jeans and 27% of T­shirts, sweatshirts and tank tops; it is in 73% of swimwear and 86% of underwear. By brand, the stretch fibre’s presence rates high at ultra­fast fashion labels Shein (47%) and PrettyLittleThing (46%). In activewear, few companies are cited, but it makes up one­third of products sold by adidas performance (36%), Reebok (34%) and Hummel (33%).

A desire for elasticity has led to spandex becoming ubiquitous across all product categories, extending, in all probability, their useful life. This adds value. However, its presence in clothing that is no longer wanted or wearable, and could be recycled, is considered a contaminant. Garments and fabrics containing elastane must be removed from feedstock intended for mechanical recycling. The stretch fibre forms a spiderweb­like substance that clogs up shredding machines. Some can accept elastane under a certain threshold, 5% generally, but its presence may lower the value of the recycled fibres. Then there are core­spun stretch yarns to consider, as they pose another issue. These yarns are made from an elastane filament that is covered by a different fibre, often cotton or nylon. Automated sorting devices cannot detect the presence of spandex, and, again, it risks contaminating feedstock both for chemical and mechanical recyclers.

Dr Alberto Ceria, a textile and chemical engineer at The Lycra Company’s R&D department, believes recyclers are approaching the issue from the wrong standpoint. “Elastane is everywhere, but its value is overlooked,” he said at a talk at Performance Days talk this March. “In a product

made from 70% polyester and 30% elastane, the value lies in the 30% elastane, not in the polyester,” he claims.

Elastane producers, such as The Lycra Company and Hyosung, are committed to making the apparel industry more sustainable and working with recyclers to find solutions for fabrics made from their fibres. “Most recyclers require feedstock that is 100% polyester, cotton or nylon. Yet this does not reflect the reality of textile waste,” Dr Ceria tells Sportstextiles. “Elastane should not be considered a contaminant, as it is always used for a reason. Without it, a fabric may not have been made in the first place.” He argues that, rather than discarding the elastane portion as waste, retrieving the stretch fibre would increase a recycler’s yield, making its business more sustainable and economic.

To encourage recyclers to find solutions for retrieving elastane, the maker of Lycra fibre is working closely with selected chemical recyclers, specifically those who recover their target hard fibre without destroying the stretch fibre. “If we want to make an elastane yarn from recycled material, it is preferable to preserve the polymer’s chemistry,” he says. The Lycra Company has been testing this scenario, taking recycled elastane and blending it with virgin polymer to meet its performance specifications.

Among the various chemical processes in development, Dr Ceria sees the most promise in those operating in mild conditions. “Certain chemical processes and most biological or

Aquafil’s separation technique retrieves nylon for its Econyl factory in Slovenia.

RubyMoon, a swim-to-gym brand based in Catalonia, has developed a circular swimsuit designed for longevity, traceability and recyclability, without disassembly. A concept piece that RubyLab, a sister company, could recycle when no longer wearable

CREDIT: CHRIS PARKES/RUBYMOON

enzymatic methods work well and have minimal impact on the elastane’s structure,” he says. However, pending the scaling of a fibre­to­fibre recycling infrastructure, “the amount of product we can access today is limited”.

Korean textile conglomerate Hyosung, the world’s largest elastane producer, is also working with chemical recyclers and investigating post­industrial and post­consumer waste. “One of the greatest technical challenges in spandex recycling is removing dyes and finishing agents attached to the various primary fibres,” says Simon Whitmarsh­Knight, Hyosung Textiles’ global sustainability manager. “These impurities act as contaminants and must be eliminated to ensure stable recovery and downstream processing of high­purity spandex.” Due to the variety of additives and colourants, he does not foresee “a one­size­fits­all solution”.

At this stage of development, the learning curve is wide open, and Hyosung is pursuing a hybrid strategy. Beyond the technical feasibility of recycling stretch fabrics, Mr Whitmarsh­Knight says that cost­efficiency is the most critical factor. “No matter how advanced the technology may be, commercialisation is not viable unless the process can achieve levels of economic performance that the market is willing to support.”

Separating without retrieving

The result of more than ten years of research and development, Italian nylon producer Aquafil has set up a demonstration plant that can separate elastic fibres from nylon fabrics. In 2013, it launched a research project with Georgia Tech University to explore solutions for recycling mixed fibre stretch fabrics. A patent was filed, but was found difficult to scale. The company’s R&D teams pursued their work, filing another patent in 2022 that brought it closer to the long­sought solution, leading to the pilot plant now in operation in Slovenia, where the company’s Econyl recycling facility is located. Aquafil has not revealed its capacity nor yield, and research is ongoing to refine the process and achieve industrial scale.

Aquafil’s separation technology removes elastane from polyamide 6 and is also said to do so for PA6.6 and polyester blends. The recovered nylon 6 is then chemically broken down to the original caprolactam monomer. As for the elastane content, a company representative says that Aquafil is “investigating and performing different tests for the use of separated elastane in various applications, with promising results”.

Swimwear, activewear and intimate apparel are generally made from blends of polyamide 6 and elastane, the stretch fibre constituting around 20% of the blend. This has inspired Jo­Anne Godden, owner of swimwear and activewear brand RubyMoon, to seek a circular solution for this specific market segment. Originally from the UK, Ms Godden is now based in Catalonia. She has been working on this project for the past four years. Through her new venture, RubyLab, she says she has found a low­cost and versatile

method for recycling pre­ and post­consumer polyamide 6­elastane materials, and she is now planning to launch a pilot.

In RubyLab’s solution, textile waste is fed into a small reactor where the nylon is separated from the elastane. “The equipment is not new; it has been around for some 20 years, but this is the first time it is being used for textiles,” says Ms Godden. “The process is gentle and uses no hazardous chemicals, only water, low pressure, and a bit of magic.” It does not revert the fibres back to monomers, which she points out makes her solution less energy­intensive, and yields nylon pellets that can be used to make new fibres. The elastane is not retrieved, for now. “But we obviously want to recycle 100% of the materials,” she adds. The device can fit into a shipping container and can thus be located close to manufacturing and recycling centres. “Our process is designed to be agile and versatile. We want to install small reactors in places where there is feedstock; this is where the problem lies.” It would enable manufacturers to recycle their waste on site at little cost.

Ms Godden is also looking to change the design of swimwear and activewear to increase yields and streamline circularity and has developed a prototype. “We need to design garments that can be fed into our system without disassembly.” Among the changes she recommends are switching sewing threads from polyester to nylon and choosing nylon for linings instead of polyester. She is looking forward to collaborating with brands to ensure that all components are compatible with RubyLab’s recycling process.

The multifibre challenge

Materials made from mixed fibres are a challenge for all textile­to­textile recycling technologies, though, as Dr Ceria has said, they are part of the reality of much post­industrial and post­consumer waste. Whatever the technology, mechanical, chemical or enzymatic, multifibre blends will reduce the value of ‘pure’ recycled materials. Any item containing acrylic, elastane or

Re&Up’s recycling process for cotton does not need to sort out elastane-rich items as it removes all impurities, including dyes, using a thermo-chemical process.

CREDIT: RE&UP

manmade cellulosics needs to be removed from feedstock to ensure efficient recycling.

Recyclers are working on solutions, specifically for the ever­ubiquitous elastane. Re&Up, part of Turkey­based Sanko, has developed a technology that can handle post­consumer and post­industrial textile waste, including garments with elastane. “Rather than requiring elastane to be sorted out beforehand, our process is capable of identifying and extracting it during the recycling stages,” says Re&Up general manager, Andreas Dorner. After an initial mechanical stage, the stretch yarn is separated from other fibres using a thermo­chemical process. “This enables us to isolate components such as elastane, polyester and colourants, while preserving the integrity of the cotton fibres,” he explains. The elastane is then rerouted for use in non­textile applications, such as in the automotive industry. He says the company is in conversation with elastane producers to explore pathways for integrating this elastane into circular textile systems in the future.

“On average, the elastane content in the material we process is around 3% to 4%,” he notes.

Earth Protex, a company based in Canada, with divisions in China, Portugal and the US, specialises in thermomechanical recycling. It is also developing a technology to recycle mixed fibres.

The Separation Technology of Mixed Polymers (or STOMP) is a water­free process that removes dyes, auxiliaries and chemicals, and also elastane. “In our recycling process, the elastane, like the polyester, is recovered in polymer form, not monomer, so it can be used in a number of applications,” says Samuel Goldstein, chief operating officer. The company is not considering using the recovered elastane for textile applications. “We believe it has high enough value for non­textile applications.” The system, once finalised, will be used as a bolt­on pre­processing technology which will be installed in the company’s Tex2Tex TMR manufacturing facilities.

Ravel, a recycling technology start­up based in Seattle, says its Purification Recycling technology can handle any amount of elastane in the textile waste it processes. “Our pilot plant is running production on polyester­elastane blends, and no elastane fibre needs to be removed from the feedstock we receive from our brand and manufacturing partners,” says co­founder and CEO, Zahlen Titcomb. He points out that elastane content in stretch clothing and fabrics can reach 20% by mass.

“From economic and circularity perspectives, our focus is on recovering as many materials as possible from the feedstock. A core design principle at Ravel since the beginning has been the use of non­destructive methodologies. While many recycling approaches rely on energy­ and cost­intensive processes to break polymers down and rebuild them, we believe the most efficient path is to preserve the inherent value of existing polymers and instead purify individual components for efficient recovery,” he tells Sportstextiles.

Re:lastane, a chemical recycling method

patented by Qingdao Amino Materials Technology, a Chinese company, is said to be a mild process that only targets the polyester fibres, which are broken down into monomers. “The process is so gentle that the elastane thread is left intact. When the recycling process is finished, two materials are ready to be re­made into regenerated garments,” the company claims. Founded in 2020, it won a Global Change Award, H&M Foundation’s innovation challenge, in 2022.

Japan’s Teijin Frontier also claims to have developed a recycling method for stretch fabrics and garments. Before chemical recycling, a pretreatment phase using a special processing agent removes the elastane fibre and all other foreign materials such as dyes. The company says the agent “swells the PU­elastane fibres”, breaks their chemical bonds and dissolves them. Tests to optimise the solution have been ongoing since October 2022.

A

matter of proportion?

The prospect of recycling all types of textile waste, including those troublesome multifibre blends, is not as bleak as expected. The pervasiveness of elastane in today’s clothing, for sports and everyday apparel, is such that solutions do need to be found. However, picking out clothing and fabrics with high elastane content from those with only 1% will complicate operations for recyclers.

Tim Cross, founder of Project Re:Claim and the Circular Textile Foundation, notes that many items of clothing could be readily recyclable “if a few minor changes were made, without altering the performance of a garment”. One such change would be to reduce elastane content from 6% to 5%, which would allow stretch apparel to go through many mechanical and thermomechanical recycling processes. But to optimise yields, and enable manufacturers of elastane to retrieve recycled material, the more elastane recovered the better. “In clothing with low elastane content, we understand that it will often be lost,” notes Dr Ceria.

Ravel, a new recycling technology company, has focused specifically on blended fibre waste, particularly with elastane. The company says it has found a solution “for the long-standing elastane problem that has challenged the textile recycling industry”.

CREDIT: RAVEL

At each stage of a future circular apparel ecosystem, the design of an item of clothing will impact how smoothly the process runs. The sorting of used textiles is one of the more complex stages. Current systems are designed to pick out the highest value garments for resale. Much of what remains, which could be recycled into new fibres, will go through a different type of sorting, by colour and composition.

Garment design in the age of circularity

Akey step in building up the recycling capacity of waste textiles, which remains acutely low at less than 1%, is to ‘produce’ homogenous secondary materials that are suitable for recycling. At the current stage of development, mechanical recyclers will want, say, 100% cotton in a format that preserves fibre length. Companies that recycle cotton into pulp for manmade cellulosic fibres will request waste with high cotton content, but will not be concerned by fibre quality. Thermomechanical and chemical processes need feedstock that is nearly pure polyester, cut into small pieces, sometimes compounded into ‘popcorn’. Few recycling technologies can take in mixed waste; Worn Again and Ravel are exceptions. But ‘mixed’ is the reality of a high volume of discarded clothing and textiles, and solutions for this reality are definitely needed.

Comprehending the real­world conditions of used clothing is as simple as taking a look in any clothing closet. What does it contain? A woollen suit, cotton­polyester trousers, a viscose blouse, jeans. The sweaters and baselayers can be made from a variety of fibres, wool alone, or blended with cashmere, acrylic, polyester, even cotton. They can at times be made from three or more fibres. This has never been flagged as a problem. In fact, it is often a selling point: cashmere enhances the value of wool and, when blended with polyester, the item will have a lower price­tag. When no longer worn or wanted, these items of clothing will probably be dropped into collection bins. This is when the process of sorting and grading begins where each one will be directed to a preferred new use: resale or recycling. And this

Brightfiber Textiles officially opened its recycling facility in Amsterdam this spring, following the acquisition of Wieland Textiles, a Dutch collector that helped Valvan fine-tune the Fibersort.

CREDIT: BRIGHTFIBER TEXTILES

is one of the main bottlenecks in the titanic task of turning textile waste into a resource.

Collectors and graders, who are experts in sorting, now face a critical situation that has stripped them of the financial resources that made their business viable. Significant portions of what they call ‘crème’, clothing that can be resold at high value, never make it to their facilities as consumers pocket the money by selling their unwanted garments online, using apps such as Vinted. The rise of fast and ultra­fast fashion, often quickly binned, has also put a dent in their revenues.

Automated sorting devices are seen as a way to speed up sorting and reduce its cost. But the equipment itself is costly, and a return on investment uncertain, as an industrial recycling infrastructure is slow to come out of ground. It is nonetheless imperative that discarded clothes, shoes and home linens avoid landfill or incineration

The two approaches, sorting for reselling or for recycling, follow different sets of rules. For resale, a three­fibre blend jumper, if it is still stylish and in good condition, will not be a problem. For recycling, it could, on the contrary, be considered a source of contamination.

Sorting twice

The collecting and sorting industry has always been a self­supporting industry, Mariska Boer tells Sportstextiles. “It uses revenues generated by the sale of second­hand clothes to support the processes needed to recycle the non­reusable products,” says the co­owner of Boer Group, a Dutch used clothing collector, who also heads the Textile division of the European Recycling Industries Confederation (EuRIC). The evolution of fast fashion and online resale platforms has undermined its business model. Boer operates seven sorting plants in Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands and produces mechanically recycled nonwovens.

Glass, metal and plastics, she says, have a market value as waste and are therefore bought by recyclers. “This system does not apply to textiles as, historically, the value of the second­hand garment market paid for the non­reusable items.” Due to the lesser value of used apparel that is collected, EuRIC is calling for a systemic change in how the sector operates.

Sorting for recycling is a whole new world for today’s collectors, says Ms Boer. Her company has recently acquired an automated system for sorting by fibre composition. The system is Fibersort, developed by Belgian company Valvan; it includes dismantling operations. Mariska Boer says that this should increase the amount of fibre that can be recycled into new yarns for garments, but she questions who should be making these million­euro investments. Should it be municipalities, or could extended producer responsibility (EPR) measures shift the onus to brands and retailers?

“There is a missing link between what is designed and put on the market and what can be recycled

when it reaches end of life,” she points out, and this requires collective action. “Designers are asked to create products that will sell, not products that are sustainable or recyclable.” It has not been the role of designers to look to avoid what recyclers call ‘showstoppers’: details or ornaments that prevent a product from being recycled.

Missing links

“We’ve spent years reverse­engineering how textiles are made to develop recycling technologies, whereas the industry should be asking itself whether clothing could be designed differently,” agrees Cyndi Rhoades, co­founder of Worn Again and more recently co­founder and CEO of Circle­8 Textile Ecosystems. Circle­8 has ambitious plans to build three 50,000­tonne automated sorting facilities in the UK. Ms Rhoades says there are enough discarded non­rewearable clothes in the country to justify 15 such facilities. “We need automated sorting facilities to avoid sending non­rewearable clothing to landfill or incineration.” Initially, she expects the demand for feedstock from chemical recyclers to be limited, given the current stage of their development. “We will start by supplying existing markets with non­reusable textile inputs for making second­use products, such as insulation, as emerging fibre­to­fibre recyclers scale up.”

A first facility, whose location has already been chosen, should be operational by the end of next year, depending on market conditions. These facilities will only be financed if the key drivers of materials circularity, namely brands and retailers, show clear market demand for recycled content. Circle­8 has purchased a single­line automated sorting machine made by Danish company NewRetex, which is due to be delivered next March, she tells Sportstextiles. It can identify the composition and colour of one garment per second, but instead of compressed air, it uses gravity to dispatch each item to a specific bin.

A Boer grading facility where apparel is sorted by skilled staff that assess the condition of an item and its relevance for various second-hand markets. Sorting for resale remains a manual process as opposed to sorting for recycling, which can be done by robots.

CREDIT: BOER GROUP

“This makes it relatively quiet and reduces energy consumption,” she says.

In addition to identifying colour and composition, the device scans items using X­rays, enabling it to ‘see’ inside pockets. It also weighs and measures each item, information that will feed a database, enhance traceability and the monitoring of non­reusable, post consumer products. “As these types of facilities are scaled, we will see patterns emerge which will help further designing for circularity in terms of phasing out complicated blends which can’t be recycled," Ms Rhoades points out. The data collected could also help brands better understand what happens to their goods once discarded. Ms Rhoades suggests that further transparency around what’s in the wider pool of post consumer textiles would allow brands to better understand their responsibilities in furthering or hampering a circular ecosystem for apparel. “We’d like to see the post­use textiles supply chain work together on scaled sorting solutions to support cost efficiencies, quality of feedstock and methods for transparency,” she says. She believes no one player can solve this problem on its own for the industry. Collaboration to find joined­up solutions will make it easier to follow the flow of used clothing and the materials they are made from.

In the meantime, Ms Rhoades says that all options need to be kept open, including downcycling solutions. “We need to be realistic. Chemical recycling will happen, but not as soon as expected. At present, only a portion of post­consumer non­reusable textiles are recyclable.”

Each recycling technology has different requirements for the waste that it can take in. Often, it will need to be pre­processed and prepared to each recycler’s specifications. This adds another layer of complexity to textile waste management, as Tim Cross, founder and CEO of Project Re:Claim, points out. “Sorting facilities will need to address different customer requests and may only be able to meet 60% or 70% of demand.” He believes that artificial intelligence will make automated sorting more efficient and that digital product passports will also help boost output, but both of these may be years away.

Project Re:Claim, a thermomechanical recycling facility installed in a Salvation Army site in the UK, has been running for over a year, acquiring on­the­ground experience of handling textile and clothing waste. “Our production line is designed for post­consumer clothing,” says Mr Cross. “But we need garments designed for recycling, and until these are in sufficient quantities, we rely on post­industrial waste.” He is addressing this issue through the Circular Textiles Foundation, which he also founded.

The foundation trains designers, assists brands in developing circular products and provides a certification label indicating that an item of clothing is fully recyclable, as is. It has devised a simple formula to educate the industry: a theory of thirds.

AUTOMATED SORTING AND THE TEXTILE ECOSYSTEM

Norwegian company Tomra is one of the leading suppliers of automated sorting machines for all recycling industries, including plastics, metals, municipal waste, and now textiles. Louisa Hoyes, segment director for textiles tells Sportstextiles that over the past ten years, the company has been studying the market, the evolution of policy and legislation, recycling technologies, collection systems and textile waste. Tomra has developed an Autosort sorting system for textiles and apparel. The largest model is said to be able to treat 4.5 tonnes per hour. Four such machines have been in operation in Sweden since 2021 as part of the Swedish Innovation Platform for Textile Sorting (SIPTex), a government­funded research programme. The company pays close attention to the varied feedstock specifications of each type of recycling technology. It has created a database of fibre compositions and blends, which the various sensors need if they are to identify items accurately. For now, flexibility is necessary. “Textile sorting is quite complex, as there is no end of different fibre blends. With plastics, there is only a set number of materials that will come into a sorting facility,” says Ms Hoyes, who expects that collective action and uptake from brands will be the real driver of change. If they request recycled content, that will create real demand. “This is a challenging space for brands,” she admits, “as they have few connections with the other players in a circular ecosystem.”

Mr Cross says that one­third of clothing on the market is already recyclable, but brands are unaware of this. One­third could be made readily recyclable with a few minor changes that would not affect a garment’s aspect or performance, he insists. One such solution is using sewing threads that are of the same composition as the item of clothing, be it cotton, nylon or polyester. And, finally, one­third will require either a massive redesign or a new recycling technology. “It is a revolution in thought. It does not require a new breed of designers. We can get there quickly,” he says.

“It’s taken a good five or 10 years for the industry to get up to speed on the differences between the variety of mechanical and chemical recycling processes. Now we’re asking companies to learn about automated sorting and pre­processing,” notes Cyndi Rhoades. This is where brands and designers may see their roles change. “EPR policies are the stick for engaging brands, but we also need a carrot. Once large­scale sorting and recycling facilities are up and running, we aim to offer brands and retailers preferential access to textile­to­textile recycled fibres, via recycling partners.”

CREDIT: TOMRA

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NEWCOMERS

Emulating the properties of a squid’s suction cups or, more prosaically, those of wool, two new biotech protein fibres are in the works at Tandem Repeat. What began in a biomimetic materials lab at Penn State University is now close to being ready for market.

Second nature

The array of protein fibres derived from fermentation stands to grow significantly when, and if, all ongoing research and pilot projects come to market. Three such fibres are at a relatively advanced stage of readiness. Some have already launched commercially. Spiber’s aptly named Brewed Protein Fiber has woven its way into the collections of high­end mills and brands. The Japanese company, founded in 2007, has been operating an industrial fermentation plant in Thailand since 2021. Another pioneer in the field is AMSilk, a German company founded in 2008. Last year, it exhibited its first yarn and fabric samples at Pitti Filati and Première Vision. The third company, Tandem Repeat, was incorporated in 2020 by Melik Demirel, a professor at Penn State University. This spring, to test the market, he launched a short production run of sweaters made from Procell, a yeast­brewed protein fibre, under the Sonachic label.

Early attempts to make manmade protein fibres, as alternatives to natural silk and wool, which are also protein fibres, date back to the late 19th century and the work of a Scottish inventor, Adam Millar, on gelatine­based fibres, as Melik Demirel tells Sportstextiles. Further research in this field led to the development of protein fibres derived from milk casein in the 1930s (Lanital and, later, Merinova), and from soybean or even peanuts in the 1940s. “All these fibres were made from animal or vegetal proteins, but they were mechanically weak and expensive to make. When polyester came around, it took over the market,” he says.

Building on this heritage, Prof Demirel first began studying squid, and specifically the teeth around its suction cups whose properties, including the ability to self­heal, he believes can offer promising possibilities for advanced materials. The DNA of this protein was integrated into bacteria and reproduced using precision fermentation. Research on the Squitex fibre is ongoing, notably for military applications, but the researcher decided to shift his focus to a less costly fermentation method using yeast and biomass.

“Biomass fermentation is significantly cheaper than precision fermentation,” he says. Yeast can be

A short run of sweaters, made in a blend of 50% Procell and 50% wool was launched earlier this year to test market acceptance.

CREDIT: SONACHIC / TANDEM REPEAT

fed biomass waste from the brewing and biomanufacturing sectors, particularly the pharmaceutical industry. He explains that this by­product cannot be sold as animal feed if it comes from pharmaceuticals and is usually destroyed. “This makes our raw material nearly free,” he tells Sportstextiles.

The fermentation process produces protein in powder form that can be turned into pulp and made into filaments using a wet­spinning process, like that used for lyocell. The protein fibre, named Procell, is then cut into a staple yarn for knitting, weaving or nonwovens. It can be blended with any other fibre, including cotton, wool or polyester. The biomaterial yarn, he says, has twice the strength of wool and costs half the price. “Today, at lab scale, we can easily beat the price of wool. In the long run, we could even beat the price of cotton,” he says. Procell could thus be one of the rare next­gen biotech fibres to break the cost barrier.

Tandem Repeat produced 500kg of Procell in 2024 and has plans to increase this to 10 tonnes during 2025. Initial production was done at a pilot­scale plant at the Thuringian Institute for Textiles & Plastics Research (TITK) in Germany. The company is now working with a European lyocell producer to increase production to 300 tonnes in 2026. Procell yarns and fabrics are currently made in Turkey.

Like Spiber’s Brewed Protein Fiber, Procell is naturally golden in colour, but it can be dyed. The hand­feel of the first fabrics varies with staple lengths, notes the founder. “A fabric made from 80 mm staple fibres feel like wool, while those made from 38 mm fibres feel more like cotton.”

Producing fibres from fermentation is said to be less taxing on the environment, as it does not require land, as wool does, or mulberry plantations, as silk does. The biomaterial is biodegradable, with the advantage of being customisable to deliver various properties. Tandem Repeat has filed more than 20 patents for its technology and processes. Compared to other biotech start­ups, it has received moderate levels of funding, $2 million in venture capital and $6.8 million in grants.

Testing the market

Tandem Repeat is in talks with brands to bring Procell to market, but the apparel industry’s long lead­times, and non­disclosure agreements, inspired the university professor to test the market directly, even if on a small scale. Earlier this year, a short run of 50 sweaters made from a blend of 50% Procell and 50% wool was produced and sold online under the Sonachic label. The test was positive, he tells Sportstextiles, but selling one item at a time is slow, and he is looking for a wholesaler to increase volumes and raise revenue to support the company through the long process of brand adoption.

In addition to yarns and fabrics, the company is also developing thermal insulation padding, a project for military applications. “The United States does not produce much wool, and polyester fillers will melt and drip when exposed to high temperatures. This is a major issue for

military personnel,” he notes. Procell will not melt, has high thermal properties, and could thus be a better solution.

The US department of defence is also interested in the self­healing properties of Squitex. “It possesses active thermoregulating properties” when coated or integrated into a Procell fibre, says Prof Demirel. “As you sweat, it changes the thermal properties of the fibre, and this is unique,” he adds, referencing a paper he authored that was published in Nature. The Squitex coating could be applied to any fibre, he says.

Tandem Repeat was awarded $1.5 million by the Biden administration’s Climate Positive programme to build a factory in North Carolina, a project that is awaiting approval by the Trump administration. For this project, the Tandem Repeat team prepared a document outlining the infrastructure and engineering requirements for a future factory. “We have detailed all necessary information on machinery needs and processing, including lifecycle analysis data. A factory could be built in Canada, Taiwan, Germany, Turkey or Vietnam, anywhere really, and ideally in all of these countries,” he says. Funding is needed for this to happen, and he believes private­equity capital could be raised to build the first facility, before licensing the technology to interested parties.

There is a market for Procell, he insists, pointing to the evolution of wool production over the years. “There was a time when 2 million tonnes of wool were produced yearly. It has since fallen to 1 million tonnes, and is not evolving. I am not looking to take wool’s market share but to retrieve the 1 million tonnes that wool has lost over the years,” he insists.

Taking the long view, he observes that it was millennia ago that humans started to domesticate silkworms for silk and rear sheep to produce wool from the fleeces. The domestication of yeast to make bread or beer also goes way back. Now, he says, we can domesticate yeast to make fibres.

Spools of Procell yarns. Tandem Repeat has worked with manufacturers based in Turkey to develop fabrics.
CREDIT: TANDEM REPEAT

The Lainière de Picardie production site in Péronne in northern France has added fabric innovation and flexibility with weft-insertion technology.

ALL CREDITS: CHARGEURS PCC

Weft-insertion deftness

Interlining specialist Chargeurs PCC insists that the H2 stretch fabric it introduced at the end of last year is the lightest three­layer membrane material on the market, weighing only 45 grammes per square­metre. Developed in­house at the group’s Lainière de Picardie production site in Péronne, in the Hauts­de­France region in northern France, the bonded waterproof, breathable material has a warp­knit, weft­insertion construction. It can also come without a membrane for two­layer options. “We are not the only ones who can combine warp­knit and weft­insertion,” says Chargeurs PCC chief executive, Gianluca Tanzi, “but we are one of only a few in the world, and we are making around 25 million metres of it per year.”

He quickly pays tribute to a technology partner that continues to help make this possible: textile machinery group Karl Meyer. The usual way to use the technology is to produce warp­knit fabric without the weft. Together, the companies have developed a technique for inserting weft fibres into warp­knit constructions.

Long­term partners

Technology from Karl Mayer has been in use at the Lainière de Picardie site since the 1970s. The two companies have worked in close partnership. Technicians from both have co­developed a range of innovations, often working side by side in the Péronne factory. Input from the Chargeurs PCC factory floor has helped Karl Mayer offer improved efficiency and quality to customers all over the world, while particular projects, such as the weft­insertion idea have also come out of this joint­working.

RISE TO THE CHALLENGE

A long­standing partnership between fabric manufacturer Chargeurs PCC and textile machinery developer Karl Mayer has delivered a weft­insertion innovation that, in turn, has brought about the lightest three­layer fabric on the market.

For weft­insertion, the fabric manufacturer uses models from the German company’s HKS and RSP warp­knitting machine ranges, in configurations of up to 40­gauge. Mr Tanzi’s calculation is that there may only be 400 looms in the world on which skilled craftspeople can work the magic required to make a product like H2. Chargeurs PCC owns 200 of them and, of these, 100 are in France. Their main use, until now, has been in the production of interlining materials for haute­couture customers. Now they are making H2 as well, with cycling and running apparel companies among those expressing keen interest in using the lightweight, breathable material in their sports clothing collections.

The result of the work that the technical partners have done on weft insertion is a highly breathable fabric with a nap. “You need to have the nap,” Gianluca Tanzi explains. “This way you can create features that are not achievable with a normal, closed, woven fabric. And sports brands are looking for this because the nap provides a 3D effect, with a little bit of distance between the body and the

At a price

None of this is easy, he points out. Using some of the fibres Chargeurs PCC is able to offer for the weft insertion, and manufacturing the fabric in Europe means H2 has to come at a certain price point. Nevertheless, he says he is sure the properties of H2, including its lightness and stretchability, will make it appealing to brands that want to offer high­end sports clothing to their customers.

The market often seems to put more importance on price than on anything else. This is something Mr Tanzi accepts. “You cannot resolve that,” he says. “If price is the main concern of a brand, it will show in its sourcing strategy. It will find ways to squeeze suppliers.” Often, this pressure on suppliers can lead to compromises on quality, sustainability or even worker safety. H2 may not be a product for everyone, but the manufacturer is confident that there are brands that are looking for “something special, something different” for which they will pay a higher price.

surface of the material. You can make a fabric that is extremely breathable. This helps to manage moisture, which, of course, helps make the wearer of the garment more comfortable.”

He insists that the company has a high level of freedom to adapt the weft, and that many options are possible. “It can be polyester, but we are also working on using washable wool to help improve the thermal properties of finished garments,” he continues. “We think options using cotton and even cashmere and silk in the weft will also be possible, as will different thicknesses and different kinds of weave, including piqué. We are a creative company.”

Questions and answers

In the current climate, any mention of membranes can spark fears that per­ and polyfluoroalkylcompounds (PFCs) might be involved. The Chargeurs PCC chief executive has no concerns about fielding enquiries from customers about this. “There are lots of chemicals that we don’t use and don’t want to use,” he explains. “Customers have access to our restricted substances list and they know how strict it is. It is stricter than the European Union’s REACH regulation.”

On the question of lightness, Mr Tanzi confirms that 45 grammes per square­metre is the weight of the three­layer version. Without the membrane layer, H2 weighs 25 grammes per square­metre. He talks about lightness as being part of the company’s DNA; it is a characteristic that is fundamental to interlining materials, after all. He accepts, however, that there are trade­offs: thickness must have a bearing on a fabric’s tensile strength. “For me, this is probably close to the limit,” he explains. “To go even lower than this in weight would make it difficult to have a product that you could use in sports.”

“But it’s not such a high price,” Mr Tanzi insists. “Even if you add a few euro to the price per metre, you have to bear in mind that you can make a high­quality, lightweight cycling jacket with only two metres of fabric. Usually, clothing brands are very good at passing any extra cost for the material on to the consumer by adding it to the price of the finished garment. They can more than make up for the extra cost of the fabric. Even then, it is not going to cost thousands of euro more for the jacket.”

Brands know this, he says. In the context of asking, perhaps, €15,000 each for bikes themselves, it seems perfectly acceptable to ask cycling enthusiasts to pay “a little bit more, not a fortune” for garments that will meet their needs especially well when they hit the road.

Two prototype sports garments made with H2, a three-layer jacket and a two-layer T-shirt.
Chargeurs PCC chief executive, Gianluca Tanzi, says lightweight fabrics are part of the company’s DNA.
Magnified image of warp knit fabric with a nap-creating weft insert.
“ Athletes were turning previously unproductive travel time into active recovery sessions. ”

Hyping the Hyperboot

Creating a novel category in any field takes inspiration, determination and hard work, generally sprinkled with some good fortune, a combination Anthony Katz leveraged when he was searching for a way to boost recovery as a former athlete. At the time, around 2000, he says most athletes were cooling their muscles and joints with packs of ice in plastic bags, a process that was cumbersome and awkward. Even in the training rooms of the US National Basketball Association, recovery machines were more akin to post­operation devices in hospitals; they were expensive and needed specialist operatives. “I wanted to democratise this technology,” explains Anthony Katz, “making it smaller, easy to use, and fit into athletes’ lifestyles.”

Good fortune came in the guise of a former school friend training NBA basketballer Kobe Bryant, who challenged Katz to create a product he could wear courtside. Katz created the first Hyperice product, a cooling shoulder sling from neoprene and fed Bryant’s suggestions into subsequent designs, sparking a business strategy to give free products to as many professional athletes as possible. Their feedback, combined with learnings from physios and access to high­level training sessions, inspired new iterations while also working as an advertising platform.

Through the early 2010s, Hyperice launched heating pads and wraps, vibrating balls and massagers. In 2018, the company bought Normatec, a maker of recovery compression boots, to round out its offering and capitalise on a renewed focus on health that was driven by the covid pandemic.

Athlete­focused synergy

Hyperice’s focus on the athlete resonated with Nike, and the teams approached each other to research how their expertise could complement one another for new products, leading to the launch of the Hyperboot.

“The collaboration with Nike represented a unique moment in our product development history,” Jim Huether, Hyperice CEO, tells

FOOTWEAR TECHNOLOGY

The CEO of Hyperice tells us how teaming up with Nike for a boot that boosts warm­up and recovery is only the start of the potential of the burgeoning category.

Sportstexiles. “We’ve long drawn inspiration from Nike's approach to athlete­centred innovation, so this partnership felt like a natural evolution of our mission. We were essentially taking our proven Normatec technology and integrating it into the most constrained space we’ve worked with.”

The primary technology in the Hyperboot is the dynamic air compression from the Normatec and the heat technology from the Venom. A system of dual­air Normatec bladders bonded to warming elements evenly distributes heat throughout the upper and helps drive heat deep into the muscle and tissue in the feet and ankles and then up through the calf and into the leg. “Nike’s expertise in materials science and pattern­making was crucial to our success. Their deep knowledge of how fabrics behave, how to construct durable footwear and their advanced manufacturing capabilities allowed us to reimagine our Normatec bladders in ways we couldn't have achieved alone,” adds Huether.

Involving athletes in the testing stage also was fundamental to the success of the design. Tobie Hatfield, the senior director of athlete innovation at Nike, brought on a roster of professionals including golfer Tom Kim, American footballer Jayden Daniels and gold medallist sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson. “The Hyperboot has some of the most consistent wording from the feedback of any product I’ve worked on: that their ankles feel light and loose,” he comments. “One of the other advantages was you can walk in it. We increased the toe spring and the heel spring, so that when athletes do walk in it, they feel even lighter.”

Sha'Carri Richardson says, “As a sprinter, every millisecond matters, so having my feet and ankles already activated truly helps me prepare to perform at my best.”

ALL CREDITS: NIKE/HYPERICE

Expanded potential

Testing during the 2024 Paris Olympics brought some ‘illuminating’ results. “While we expected athletes to use the Hyperboot for pre­competition warm­up – which was highly visible to the public – and we were thrilled to see how extensively they adopted it for travel and transit recovery,” explains Huether. “USA Basketball players were using the boots during the roughly two­and­a­half hour trips to and from venues outside Paris. This ‘dead time’ utilisation became a major use case. Athletes were turning previously unproductive travel time into active recovery sessions. Sha'Carri Richardson specifically mentioned the mental component as well – the feeling that she was already ahead of her usual preparation process.”

The breadth of use cases beyond elite sports is also great to see, he adds. Early feedback suggests significant interest from occupational users who spend long hours on their feet, which expanded Hyperice’s view of the total addressable market.

Their strategy appears to be working. Multiple athletes are not only involved in testing products but are also investors, creating incentives for promotion. Hyperice doubled revenues in 2024 and the company says it is only at the start of a growing market for wearable tech in clothing and footwear. Working on the Hyperboot also taught them new approaches to miniaturisation and integration that they are already applying to future product development, and there are more products in the pipeline with Nike. “The Hyperboot represents just the beginning of what we see as a new category in wearable recovery

technology,” he concludes. “The partnership with Nike has opened new possibilities for athlete­focused innovations. Long­term, we see the Hyperboot as establishing a new standard for how athletes think about preparation and recovery – not as stationary activities, but as integrated parts of their mobile, active lifestyles.”

The Nike x Hyperice boots have been available in North America since May this year. The shoe hits the global markets at the start of the festive season 2025.

Thermal imaging shows the heat being driven through the muscles and into the leg.
The heat and compression can be adjusted by a button on the shoe; wearers can choose from three levels.

Justin Huang (centre), taking part at a roundtable event on textile sustainability at the Intertextile Shanghai exhibition in March.

CREDIT: MESSE FRANKFURT

Who will produce for Europe?

If four billion plastic bottles came into circulation in Taiwan last year, the percentage that people collected for recycling was, officially, 99.9%.

This is a government figure; the president of the Taiwan Textile Federation, Justin Huang, is quite proud of it. Taiwanese people there have this level of conscientiousness because collecting bottles has been normal practice there for decades. “In the 1990s, we all began to receive $1 (Taiwanese) for each bottle we put into recycling,” Mr Huang explains. This anecdote is his gentle, diplomatic way of suggesting that the centre of technical textile excellence that is Taiwan may have something to teach those who have only added their voices to calls for environmental responsibility more recently.

The 1990s brought a pivotal moment for the textile industry in Taiwan. It came when China’s central government announced its ninth five­year plan. It said that, as part of that plan, developing the textile industry was to be of critical importance. This was for a simple reason: the textiles industry helps meet people’s everyday needs. Mr Huang remembers speculation that this would lead to a huge expansion in the sector in China, with the number of spindles in operation there increasing from around 15 million in the mid­1990s to 40 million by the year 2000. When

SUSTAINABILITY

The extra burdens that textile producers look likely to have to bear as a result of EU sustainability initiatives are making a senior industry figure in Asia question the ongoing viability of the current garment industry supply chain.

the turn of the century came, the number had, in fact, reached 100 million.

“Taiwanese textile mills became worried about such a huge capacity developing on the other side of the Taiwan Strait,” he explains. “We asked ourselves what we could do to remain competitive and we decided to focus on two things. One was to make our industry more differentiated by making functional and high­performance fabrics. The second was to be more sustainable.”

Real­world examples

Fibre manufacturers in Taiwan have been using bottles to produce recycled polyester for the best part of 20 years now. Justin Huang admits that this

was not easy in the early days, not least because although the bottles themselves were made from PET fibres, the bottle tops were made from polypropylene and the adhesive labels were made from different materials again. Taiwan, therefore, was an early mover in the quest to separate out mixed materials to distinguish between recyclable and non­recyclable components.

Drinks companies were reluctant to use the recovered bottles themselves, he says, because the standards for purity and safety they needed to meet (and still do today) were so high. Early attempts to use the discarded bottles to make recycled polyester were not, in his assessment, a complete success. The technology of the time was more limited. It could produce recycled polyester staple fibres, but not, at first, filament.

Breakthroughs came around 2002, when leading chemicals groups in Taiwan developed new technology that could produce recycled polyester filament. “That was the starting point for recycled textile materials,” Mr Huang continues, “and it came at a time when leading apparel brands around the world were starting to think about this, and some of the big names began to source what we were making in Taiwan.”

Conviction grows

Following these early wins, more manufacturers in Taiwan began to turn their hands to recycled polyester. One good reason for doing so was that it was already becoming difficult for them to compete on price and volume with China­based producers of virgin polyester. Conviction was growing in Taiwan that the textile industry there had to keep trying to make things that competitors in China had not yet touched.

To differentiate itself further, in case recycled polyester filament was not attractive enough on its own to bring consumers on board, it soon began to add functionality. Anti­bacterial, UV protection, micro­porosity and moisture

“ Putting information about your whole supply chain on a QR code needs thinking about; there would be no secrecy or business confidentiality any more. ”
JUSTIN HUANG, TAIWAN TEXTILE FEDERATION

management were among the early examples. The first recycled materials with those properties came out of mills in Taiwan. But innovations of this kind added “at least 30%” to the cost compared to virgin materials, Mr Huang continues.

The next big push came after the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 and the adoption of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which led to the launch of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals at the start of 2016. Driven by these targets, clothing brands began to express more interest in recycled materials. At last, large numbers of brands began to appreciate what textile companies in Taiwan were able to do. The president of the country’s main textile body plays down the right to look on this as a completed objective because, he says, “it was something we were squeezed into doing and something we are still trying to become better at”.

A pain in the neck

Much work remains. Added burdens for manufacturers will flow, he claims, from initiatives such as the European Union’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which came into force in July 2024, and the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy that will make manufacturers accountable for the environmental impact of their products. They promise to be “a pain in the neck” for brands and suppliers, costing time and effort, he says.

He agrees that repairing and giving pre­owned

The European Commissioner for environment, water resilience and a competitive circular economy, Jessika Roswall, on a visit to the Moda re textile recycling plant in the Vallecas district of Madrid in April this year.

CREDIT: EUROPEAN COMMISSION

European Union sustainability initiatives

Name: Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)

Aims: To bring about a reduction in the environmental impact of products, promote a more circular economy, and contribute to the European Union’s environmental goals by obliging manufacturers to design products to be longer­lasting, more easily repaired and more readily recycled at end of life.

Announced: March 2022.

Current status: Entered into force July 2024.

Name: Extended producer responsibility (EPR)

Aims: Extended Producer Responsibility schemes will aim to provide financing for the management of waste. Producers will be required to contribute financially to efforts to manage textile waste, including the collection, sorting and recycling of garments at scale. This will help reduce the amount of textile waste that ends up in landfills or incinerators.

Announced: July 2023.

Current status: The wider European Union Waste Framework Directive will be finalised during 2025. Then each of the 27 EU states country will have to establish their own national textiles EPR systems. Some, including France, have already implemented EPR initiatives.

Name: Digital Product Passport (DPP)

Aims: To set up a digital record detailing a product’s environmental impact throughout its lifecycle. This is to enhance textile industry traceability, circularity and transparency, the European Commission has said.

Announced: April 2024

Current status: The EU­wide requirement to have a Digital Product Passport on all fashion, textile and footwear products will come into force in 2027. Some brands began to apply QR codes carrying DPP information to individual products in 2024.

products a second life is a good way of avoiding waste, as Patagonia and other brands have proved. To do this on the ground will mean having skilful people in place in Europe to carry out the repairs for consumers there. “Skilful people are very expensive in Europe,” he points out.

Specific to textile waste, he quotes the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EURIC) as saying that only 40%, at most, of the 7.5 million tonnes of textile waste that Europe produces can be recycled there at the moment. And if the waste the industry generates today far exceeds Europe’s current capacity for recycling textile waste, what will happen, he wonders aloud, in future. He quotes a projection from industry body Euratex: at current consumption rates, there will be 9 million tonnes of textile waste per year, including discarded garments, by 2030. Taking this beyond Europe, he wonders what the situation will be in countries with intense garment production. He asks: “If producers have to recycle the waste that accrues from the huge amount of garments that the 85,000 garment workers in Bangladesh produce, who will be responsible for the recycling? And who will pay? Do we even have the capacity to recycle all that waste?”

He also expresses concerns about the way the European Union’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) requirements will work. These should be finalised

in early 2026; brands are already working to establish the best way to share upstream traceability information about each product. “I am doubtful about this,” Mr Huang says. “You could be obliged to put information about your whole supply chain on a QR code. Will you really need to share all of your data or only some of it? This needs thinking about. There would be no secrecy or business confidentiality any more. This law can be successfully implemented but only if there is very good collaboration along the supply chain.”

With margins tight, asking producers to shoulder at least some of the responsibility and cost for reducing textile waste is something that will weigh heavily on manufacturers. The president of the Taiwan Textile Federation has begun to wonder if it will be easy for brands to find partners to make textiles and finished garments for them in the coming years. Add enough cost and a big enough pain in the neck and customers outside Europe are certain to become more attractive. He supports a EURIC proposal for clothing made from virgin fibres to carry a higher level of value­added tax ( VAT) in the EU than products made from recycled or reused material. The extra VAT that member states bring in from this can fund additional textile recycling capacity. This, he believes, would be a good way forward for everyone.

Spanbond Spanbond

Stitchless Stitchless

SINGLE & MULTILAYER THERMOPLASTIC ADHESIVES

Ecobond Ecobond

JellyBond JellyBond
“ We are working on high­performance materials made from carbon emissions. ”

Monomaterials master

Basque outdoor brand Ternua has integrated circular and sustainability principles into its core since it was founded 30 years ago, and has worked with suppliers to produce half of its next collection with recyclability in mind.

Can you tell us about the focus on monomaterials for the new collection? What are the challenges that come with designing with one material, and how do accessories and trims fit into the picture?

50% of Ternua’s textile FW2025 collection has been designed, developed and manufactured under circular principles. Everything, from fabric and zips to labels and other accessories for these long ­ lasting garments is made using just one material, making it possible to recycle them once they reach the end of their useful lives. Being monomaterial means that we can create new clothes by transforming the ones that have been created, because they are 100% recyclable and recycled.

Sustainability and functionality are Ternua’s objectives but circularity makes it more complicated. Monomaterial products are easier when talking about t­shirts but not as easy when talking about 2L and 3L waterproof membrane jackets or elastic pants without elastane.

Our technological partners for fabric and trims are helping us advance on the circularity of our products. At this moment, we are able to get zips (including sliders), zip pullers, woven labels and thread all made in 100% recycled polyester. All this allows us to produce garments manufactured using polyester made from recycled plastic bottles or textile waste, and transformed into practical, hard­wearing materials. Sustainability and functionality are combined in unique products, together with the technical expertise characteristic of Ternua garments.

Can you tell us about your work towards making circular products and your use of recycled materials, why is it important to include these?

DIALOGUE

Edu Uribesalgo, innovation and sustainability director at Ternua.

of the company have defined their circularity, this means how can they do better than they are doing today, with the objective of avoiding or reducing resources and avoiding or reducing waste. Our products will be designed, developed and manufactured under circular principles. This means that they will be recycled, recyclable or biodegradable:

• 100% of the polyester must be recycled

• 100 % of the polyamide must be recycled or bio based

We have committed to integrate the principles of the circular economy into our business. All areas

• 100% of the cotton must be organic, regenerative or recycled

Round in circles. New Balance says it is trying “new approaches to design for circularity”, focused on reducing waste, incorporating recycled feedstock and extending product life.

• 100 % of the wool must be responsible (RWS, GOTS) or recycled

• 100 % of the down must be responsible (RDS) or recycled.

Circularity consists of turning processes and product design around. It's about changing direction, committing to eco­design and minimising impact during production. It also means creating high­quality, long­lasting garments made from a single material. In this way, when they reach the end of their useful life, they can be recycled and transformed into new garments. It is the way we have to turn our materials around, change the direction of the industry and transform our way of doing things. Because every step we take is in line with our commitment, with the people and with the planet. A way of doing things that pushes us to go one step further.

You have used local walnut shells waste for natural dyes, found a way to use the wool from local latxa sheep, native to the area, and repurposed local fishing nets waste into new nylon with Aquafil. How does your location in the Basque country inspire your choices?

We are a purpose­driven company, motivated to keep the cycle of life turning: to protect, create move forward, and return. We have a commitment to our origins, our environment and our people. In 2015 we started our singular projects, which are permanent innovation and social commitment. Projects that are developed in our local environment with the aim of working with our community and give a solution to a problem, usually related to waste. As you say, we have developed products working together with our fishermen, our shepherds, our cider houses,

Ternua is influenced and inspired by its surroundings –the mountains, animals and seascapes of the Basque Country, located in the Western Pyrenees, between France and Spain.

ALL CREDITS: TERNUA

our local laundries. We want to minimise the negative impact of our activity and increase the positive impact in our society.

What do your customers expect in terms of use of sustainable materials, and how do you balance the fact these might cost a little more?

At the birth of the Ternua brand, we committed to minimise the negative impact of our activity and since then we have taken steps in this direction. In fact, we do not understand any other way of doing things. We are also part of the outdoor sector, a very aware sector with clients that understand the added value of our products and value the way we make them. Sustainability is part of all the strategic decisions of our company, it is a matter of identity and values. Therefore, the company's commitment is to provide a differentiation with respect to the standard of the textile sector. It’s not a question of higher costs, it is the way we have decided to do business. We are in a constant search for healthier alternatives to the ones we use to see how we can reduce our impact.

In addition to the selection of more recycled, recyclable and organic fabrics and materials, we constantly work on three aspects that have a considerable impact on the environmental footprint of a product. Firstly, the circularity of our products, designing products taking into account their end­of­life, so that they can be recycled and do not become waste that ends up in landfills or incinerated, analysing each stage of the process to reduce water, energy and chemicals. Secondly, the durability and longevity of our products, which we can influence by focusing on the quality of our manufacturing and our fabrics. And thirdly, the multifunctional versatility of our products. By ensuring that the consumer can wear the garment in different sporting activities, we reduce the number of products they need in their wardrobe. We develop durable products that become travel companions that, due to their functionality and quality, do not have to be replaced so often.

How do you stay informed of the latest material and chemical developments? Are there any that have stood out to you recently?

We work with great partners that are aligned with our way of doing, moving in the same direction and offering solutions, helping us reduce the impact of our products, like agriculture waste to make natural dyes, processes using less chemicals, less water, less energy, new fabrics dyed using the colour of the recycled textile waste, climate positive cotton, biobased polyamide, biobased elastane, elasticity by construction, without the use of elastane. There are many different solutions that allows us to make better sustainable, functional products. At the moment, we are actually working on high­performance materials made from carbon

emissions. High concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are a threat to climate change, but could it become a resource? This is what we are working on now.

How do you think incoming EU regulations on transparency and ecodesign might affect the outdoor industry?

In a world full of fast fashion, where the useful life of products is very short, where products that have not even reached their sale are destroyed after having used natural resources that are scarce, where the value of things is lost, a change towards more responsible consumption and production is necessary. It is necessary to put restrictions, not everything is valid.

The outdoor industry is very committed and more advanced compared to the fashion industry. There are many technical challenges that we, the outdoor industry, will obviously have to face. Eco­design, transparency and decarbonisation are crucial and for that, we need to have a sober, complete and structured data collection system to answer the different challenges we have as a company.

In fact, at Ternua Group, we have been working for some time on what these regulations now require, such as, among others, the Digital Product Passport, the lifecycle assessment (LCA) of products and BCorp's impact business model.

Clear labelling shows consumers the material selection and the product’s circular properties.

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