WSA Magazine Issue 4 - 2024

Low figures for fibre recycling

Breaking up (textiles) is hard to do

Start­ups lift next­gen materials

Beyond LCA with Houdini

The trekking apparel range that Basque brand Ternua has put together for spring­summer 2025. As the article in our Sustainability section in this issue makes clear, the brand’s preference for recycled fibres and for using monomaterials to make textile­to­textile recycling easier is all too rare.

TERNUA

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 Break it down

A research centre in France is developing automated systems for dismantling textiles. This technology could help make the recycling of post­consumer clothing easier.

14 Pre-worn pressures

How huge volumes of second­hand garments end up in dumping grounds in different corners of the world is the subject of intense debate.

18 LCA is not enough

Outdoor brand Houdini has come up with its own formula for calculating the full environmental impact of a garment, taking into account more than just lifecycle assessment.

Rise to the Challenge: Geno and Hyosung

Fibres group Hyosung is working in partnership with US­based Geno to fast­track the production of BDO derived from sugarcane.

Newly launched clothing brands’ desire for sustainable sourcing is helping next­generation materials reach the

A new report from Textile Exchange makes clear that recycled fibres, especially those deriving from textiles, have still made little impression on the global market.

Apparel manufacturer Vincent Djen shares insight into some important changes that are taking place in China’s domestic

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Global news

Spain Spain’s national association for footwear components manufacturers, AEC, has signed a new agreement with a Madrid­based non­profit recycling strategy group called Implica. AEC said the agreement would help its member companies assess their current waste management systems and formulate a more sustainable strategy for waste materials accruing from footwear components production, including packaging. Materials that companies will take into consideration when formulating new strategies will include chemicals, metal, wood and cardboard.

Greenland Danish sports brand Hummel has entered into a new four­year partnership with the football association of Greenland. Hummel will begin its work to design kit for Greenland’s national teams with immediate effect and aims to begin presenting new shirts before the end of this year. This development comes at an exciting time for football in Greenland; it has officially applied to become a member of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football. If its bid is successful, it will begin competing in the qualifying stages of top­tier international football competitions.

UK Outdoor industry leaders explored the big issues facing business at the 10th edition of the European Outdoor Summit (EOS), held in Cambridge, UK. The 2024 EOS attracted 200 business leaders. Presenters covered topics ranging from the drive for more equality and diversity in the outdoors, to risk management and compliance, leadership in times of uncertainty, and rethinking how to engage with AI. The summit was organised by the European Outdoor Group (EOG) in partnership with host national association the Outdoor Industries Association (OIA).

Norway Outdoor brand Norrøna has announced a new partnership with Oslo­based environmental non­profit Bellona. They have joined forces to launch a new centre for marine restoration in Kabelvåg, on the remote Lofoten peninsula in northern Norway. The centre will attempt to address what the two partners have described as “one of Europe’s biggest ecosystem crises”. Since the 1970s, an area of 5,000 square­kilometres in northern Norway has changed from being “lush kelp forests to barren sea urchin deserts”, they said. This has led to a significant loss of carbon storage and biodiversity.

Monaco Akimba, a young company founded by Serena Benedetti Roy, has created a new skinwear garment designed to protect outerwear and help women feel confident in moments of stress or intense effort. The young entrepreneur’s Fresh Bra brassieres can be worn underneath everyday clothes, or for a low impact sport activity. Their distinctive feature is an absorbent padding that lines the underarms, and will keep excess sweat invisible and help keep clothes in good condition for longer.

Iraq Retail group Go Sport is launching in Iraq as part of a broader growth strategy, following its acquisition by Qatari conglomerate Al Mana in 2023. A new Go Sport store in the heart of Baghdad will offer a wide range of apparel, footwear and accessories across various sports categories including running, training, football, swimming and racket sports. The Al Mana deal includes the development of a minimum of 23 Go Sport stores and 17 Courir stores in the countries across the Middle East.

Uzbekistan Textile machinery developer Terrot Textilmaschinen travelled to Uzbekistan in mid­September to take part in the Central Asian International Textile Machinery Exhibition, (CAITME) 2024, Tashkent. One of the highlights that the Chemnitz­based company had on display was its I3P 196 flexible circular knitting machine. Terrot has said the I3P 196 technology can produce eight­lock interlock and modified structures, including double­face, punto di roma, milano rib, piqué and also racer mesh constructions.

China Exhibition group Messe Frankfurt has reported that more than 100,000 visitors attended its Intertextile Shanghai event at the end of August. It said this was an increase of 5.2% compared to the figure for the autumn edition in 2023. It also said the number of international buyers who attended the exhibition had risen by 29% year on year. Visitors travelled to Shanghai for the event from 115 countries and regions.

Thailand Performance materials developer Teijin Frontier has announced that it is increasing production capacity at its factory in Thailand. It said it would increase the number of spinning and drawing machines at the factory to grow its capacity for producing conjugate filaments, for which Teijin said there was rising global demand. Conjugate filaments are produced by simultaneously spinning two different polymers from a divided spinneret, resulting in a single fibre.

India Canopy, a non­profit environmental group based in Canada, has released a working paper outlining the potential for developing what it calls ‘next gen’ fibres from agroindustry waste in India: “Unlocking India’s Next Gen Economy: The Untapped Investment Frontiers in Material Substitution in India’s Textile and Pulp and Paper Industries”. It believes India could convert 100 million tonnes of agricultural residues and two million tonnes of polyester­cotton textile waste into viscose and other products.

Bangladesh Security services in Bangladesh have said a normal working environment has returned to the Ashulia industrial zone near the capital, Dhaka. Police sources said more than 1,800 garment manufacturers there had begun production again, following months of protests. Professor Muhammad Yunus took over as interim prime minister of Bangladesh in early August, but workers’ protests, which brought about the resignation of his predecessor, Sheikh Hasina, persisted for a time. Police said the protests had stopped by mid­September and that garment factories were running again.

Mexico Twelve textile technology providers from Switzerland travelled to Mexico to attend a special presentation event on September 25. Machinery developers and chemicals specialists combined to take part in the Swiss Textile Machinery Symposium in Mexico City. Their aim was to use the event to talk to Mexican customers and partners about opportunities for cooperation between textile­sector companies in the two countries. They said they wanted to show the Swiss textile machinery industry as “a reliable and innovative partner in meeting the challenges of our industry”.

Vietnam Human resources professionals publication HR Asia has named open­cell foam technology provider OrthoLite as one of the best employers in Vietnam. Before being named as one of the winners at an event in Ho Chi Minh City in August, OrthoLite Vietnam went through an online survey and interviews with leaders of the business. OrthoLite’s chief executive, Glenn Barrett, said: “We believe the best way to deliver the highest­quality insoles and footwear materials solutions is with an engaged and solution­oriented team who have the tools they need to thrive.”

Malaysia Sports brand Descente has opened a new store in Kuala Lumpur, with high­end shopping mall The Exchange TRX as the location. The mall is in Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), the Malaysian capital’s financial district. Descente is offering gymwear and clothing and footwear for running, golf and other sports that are popular in Malaysia.

Australia Polyamide producer Nilit and Australian start­up Samsara Eco have announced that they are investigating the possibility of building a nylon 6.6 recycling facility in south­east Asia. The two partners aim to commence operations by the end of 2026. Samsara Eco has devised a “family of plastic­eating enzymes” that can break down nylon 6.6. Its EosEco process is said to be able to recycle varied feedstock inputs, including coloured and blended textiles such as nylon 6.6­spandex blends.

l Australia has 1,500 cotton growers, most of whom are family farmers and industry body Cotton Australia has said it expects them to produce 4.4 million bales, or 1 million tonnes of high­quality cotton fibre for export markets in the 2024­25 season, and a similar volume of seed cotton. It expects this crop to generate more than AUS$3 billion for the economy, adding that most of this money will “filter down” into the almost 250 communities that benefit directly from cotton growing.

Industry & Innovation

Raw materials promise

Chemicals group BASF has announced that the cessation at its Ludwigshafen plant in Germany of production of adipic acid and cyclododecanone may be followed by “further asset adjustment measures”.

The group has made clear that it will continue to manufacture both products, which are building blocks for the production of synthetic fibres, at other sites. In a new strategy presentation on September 26, it said it was considering further measures to make its plant in Ludwigshafen “leaner but stronger”.

In the strategy presentation, BASF said it would keep in place most of the business structure it has at the moment, in which monomers and performance materials are part of its Materials segment.

It said, however, that its ambition is to be what chairman of the board, Dr Markus Kamieth, called “the preferred chemical company for enabling customers’ green transformation”.

With a view to fulfilling this ambition, it said at the September presentation that it wanted to secure increasing volumes of renewable feedstocks and would set up a new, dedicated unit for sourcing renewable raw materials.

Net gains

Performance fabric brand Pertex is introducing new versions of its Quantum, Shield and Equilibrium fabrics made from nylon recycled from fishing nets, the result of a partnership with Bureo.

A certified B Corp, Bureo works with coastal communities in South America to collect discarded fishing nets. These are cleaned, chopped up and spun into NetPlus, a fully traceable 100% recycled nylon 6. Patagonia has invested in the company. Along with Macpac, Burton Snowboards, Albion Cycling, Jöttnar and others, Patagonia is featuring these Pertex fabrics in its a/w 2024 collection.

DWR development

Materials science company Dow has launched a new finishing product for durable water repellency (DWR), Dowsil IE-9100 Emulsion. It will bring the product to market as part of its Ecolibrium brand portfolio.

The company said the product would match the DWR performance of fluoro-containing emulsions, making it a good choice for high-performance outerwear fabrics, including athleticwear, outdoor garments and equipment, personal protective equipment, and footwear.

It said manufacturers and brands would be able to tailor the levels of repellency to match the specific end-use needs of each application.

Accurate visualisation

Worsted wool yarn specialist Südwolle Group has announced a new collaboration with Knitwear Lab Dutch Design and Development Centre. Early fruits of their work together include garments that have already gone on display, at Pitti Filati in Florence at the start of the summer. According to Südwolle, the biggest challenge in digital knitwear is accurate visualisation of the physical appearance of complex structures and yarns in the virtual realm.

Insulation from old rope

Swiss mountaineering brand Mammut has collaborated with Teufelberger, a rope manufacturer based in Austria, to create a new high­performance thermal insulation. It is made from industrial rope manufacturing production waste, using a mechanical recycling process. The genesis of the new Loopinsulation, as it is called, goes back to 2018, when Mammut calculated that 13% of its CO2 emissions were from rope manufacturing. Repurposing production scraps was a way to reduce its footprint.

Organic change

Labelling and certification body Oeko­Tex has announced changes to its procedures and requirements for certifying organic cotton. From April 2025, the organisation has said it will no longer allow companies to mention the term ‘organic’ in connection with its Standard 100 certification for cotton materials. Oeko­Tex has a separate certification programme for organic cotton and has said it wants to “strengthen the integrity” of this and make sure that “only genuinely trustworthy organic cotton” uses this label.

Satellite picture

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and AI firm Marple have unveiled the results of a satellite monitoring project for cotton in India, demonstrating a 97% accuracy rate in detecting cotton fields and over 80% accuracy in determining their organic status. Co­financed by Global Standard, the non­profit behind GOTS, and the European Space Agency’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme, the project’s aim is to increase organic cotton availability and reduce fraud.

CREDIT: BASF SE

Recovery position

Italian textile machinery association ACIMIT will accompany 50 companies to ITMA ASIA + CITME 2024, October 14 to 18 in Shanghai. China is the world’s largest market, importing around €2.6 billion of textiles machinery in 2023, according to ACIMIT.

In 2023, member company sales to China amounted to €222 million. In the first six months of this year, exports to China increased by 38%, while the performance of total Italian exports declined slightly in the same period.

ACIMIT president Marco Salvadè said: “We hope that the recovery of the Chinese market, observed in this first half of the year, may be an early indication of a more general upturn in global demand for machinery.”

Tyre change

Luxury car brand Ferrari has launched a clothing range for spring-summer 2025 made with Fulgar’s Q-Cycle for a “distinctive element with direct links to the automotive world”. The fibre is based on a thermo-chemical recycling technology that transforms discarded tyres into pyrolysis oil.

The method leads to reductions in CO2 emissions, as waste that cannot be transformed into prime materials undergoes pyrolysis into the gas used to generate the energy required by the entire conversion process.

Fulgar claims the yarn offers lightness, strength and resistance properties similar to those of virgin polyamide.

Expansion project

Outdoor brand Vaude, which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year, has announced an expansion of the production capacity of its factory at Tettnang in southern Germany. It said it had invested more than €1 million in the expansion project, installing a fully automated production line and redesigning the factory’s entire production layout.

Vaude chose an automation line from German company Erler and has said the technology includes “a major innovation”. The system can offer what the brand called precise and reliable handling of textiles, including flexible components.

Head of operations at the Vaude factory, Philipp Schwarz, said: “I am extremely proud that we will soon be producing more than 40 models to the latest industry standards, with significantly shorter delivery times and reduced material waste.”

Gecko inspiration

Chemicals and materials group Huntsman has developed a range of high-performing thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) materials for soling that provides grip and durability and has been developed with circularity in mind.

The Avalon Gecko TPU portfolio offers a series of products for soling applications, including an extrudable grade for creating very thin outsoles and a product that can be foamed to produce a low density, soft material.

Drawing inspiration from the grip of geckos, products offer comparable slip performance to rubber in both wet and dry conditions, according to Huntsman.

Sew­free advances

Performance materials developer Freudenberg has brought to market new sew-free technology, Film Bonding.

In conjunction with this new line of sew-free applications, Freudenberg has announced an expansion of earlier bonding technologies, its Net Bonding and Dot Bonding series.

It said it had identified a need to broaden its range of seamless adhesive solutions “to cater to the specific demands of the stretch active, intimate, and athleisure garment segments”.

Film Bonding features a film structure with a high-quality adhesive, “delivering robust shear bond and recovery”, the company said, adding that this will enable garments to conform to the body’s shape while retaining their shape and integrity after stretching. It pointed out that this will significantly improve durability and wearer comfort.

Sea surge

Outerknown, the surfwear brand launched by Kelly Slater, is introducing one of the first commercial products to be made from Kelsun, a biosynthetic fibre derived from seaweed, developed by US­based start­up Keel Labs. The alginate fibre has been chosen for a limited­edition run of Outerknown’s Blanket Shirt. The fabric’s composition is regenerative organic cotton (70%) and Kelsun (30%).

Remove and revive

Recycled down specialist Allied Feather + Down is to supply material to sleeping bag brand Nemo for its Endless Promise collection. When the sleeping bags reach the end of their lifespan, Allied will take them and remove, clean and revive the down. It will then make this down available for use again through its fully traceable recycled down programme, Renu:Trace.

Bottle boost

To address growing demand for recycled PET, Thai conglomerate Indorama has announced a joint venture with bottling company Varun to establish PET recycling plants in India. Two facilities are already being built, in Kathua and Khurdha. The expected surge in demand for rPET is linked to new rules in India for recycling plastic packaging.

On a plate

Chinese sports footwear and apparel brand Xtep has launched new running shoes in its 160X line, the 160X 6.0 PRO and 160X 6.0 MONXTER. It said professional runners, including marathon specialists, have shared insights and details of their experience of wearing earlier versions of the 160X shoes to help the company create these new products. They have at their core an upgraded version of the company’s proprietary GT700 carbon fibre plate technology.

Chalk face

A research team at the University of Massachusetts has investigated the cooling power of a chalk­based coating. It claims to be able to cool air underneath a treated fabric by around 4°C. Inspired by the plaster used to keep houses cool in sunny climates, graduate student Evan Patamia and undergraduate Megan Yee, part of the team led by professor of chemistry Dr Trisha Andrew, developed a method to integrate calcium carbonate and a bio­compatible barium sulfate into a polymer coating.

People

Change of chief executive at Nike

Athletic footwear and apparel group Nike is to change chief executive. The company said in September that John Donahoe will step down from the role on October 13 and will be replaced by Elliott Hill (pictured)

Mr Donahoe, a former chief executive of eBay and of cloud technology companies, became chief executive of Nike at the start of 2020, taking over in the role from Mark Parker, who is still Nike’s executive chairman.

Earlier this year, Nike said it wanted to save up to $2 billion between now and 2027 and that job losses would be a part of this. It also said it wanted to increase its use of automation and simplify its product assortment. At the time, John Donahoe described this as “a company-wide journey to invest in our areas of greatest potential”.

Elliott Hill retired from Nike in 2020 after working at the company for more than 30 years. He served in a number of senior roles and was president of consumer and marketplace, leading all commercial and marketing operations.

Early start for new Lenzing CEO

Fibres group Lenzing has brought forward its appointment of a new chief executive. The group announced in July that former president of Huntsman Textile Effects Rohit Aggarwal was joining the group and would take over as chief executive when Stephan Sielaff departed, which it said would be in March 2025 at the latest.

It said Mr Sielfaff would leave when his current contract expired, which it was due to do in March. Until then, Rohit Aggarwal was to take over the running of Lenzing’s fibre division. Then Lenzing said that Mr Sielaff would leave the company on August 31 and that Mr Aggarwal would become chief executive at the start of September.

Endorsement for Dornbirn

The sixty-third edition of the Dornbirn Global Fibre Conference concluded in the Austrian town on September 13. More than 500 delegates attended. There were 125 presentations on the programme for the three-day event in four parallel sessions.

Secretary general of the European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing, Lutz Walter, said he was certain the figure of 500 delegates would represent a low watermark for the event in the years ahead.

He suggested that the main reason for the attendance figure was that the industry is going through a difficult period, with many companies in what he called cost-containment mode. But he said: “I am in no doubt that in the coming years participant numbers will come roaring back as there is simply no competing event in terms of quality and relevance of content.”

Mr Walter went on to explain that, while there is no shortage of conferences seeking to address textile innovation, the Dornbirn Global Fibre Conference stood out for its “technical depth and industrial relevance”. He said that, in his opinion, the Dornbirn event is “the engine room of textile innovation”.

Switch in Sweden

Swedish outdoor brand Haglöfs has appointed Martin Daniels as its new chief executive. He took up the role in August. Before the move, Mr Daniels worked at Synsam, an optical retail group in the Nordics. He spent ten years there, building product ranges, brands and retail concepts. He was its chief innovation officer until 2023 and ended up as deputy chief executive. Prior to that, he worked as a principal at Boston Consulting Group in Stockholm and New York.

Textile president

Polartec owner Milliken & Company has named Allen Jacoby as president of its textile business, replacing David Smith who is retiring after 45 years with the company. Mr Jacoby has served as the company’s chief strategy officer and senior vice­president of corporate development and innovation since 2021. Halsey Cook, CEO at Milliken, said: “Allen is known for his enterprise thinking and has demonstrated the ability to drive growth and value creation through strategic initiatives.”

Oboz founder dies

Sports and mountain footwear brand Oboz has announced that the company’s founder, John Connelly, has died following a lengthy battle with cancer. Mr Connelly founded Oboz in 2007 and continued to run it for a time after Kathmandu acquired the brand in 2018. He later handed control to current company president, Amy Beck

In a tribute, Ms Beck said: “John was a visionary, the ultimate non­conformist and a forever optimist. He will always be a part of Oboz.”

Head of strategy

Elevate Textiles, the parent company of fabric manufacturer Burlington, specialist sewing thread producers American & Efird and Gütermann and of denim mill Cone Denim, has appointed Liz Ren as its head of corporate development and strategy. She will work to identify new opportunities for driving growth. In her career so far, Ms Ren has held senior financial and executive positions across a number of companies including Under Armour, Vertis Communications, Pitney Bowes, Merrill Lynch and The City Kitchen.

CREDIT: NIKE

State honour for Vaude CEO

Chief executive of outdoor brand Vaude, Antje von Dewitz, has been awarded Germany’s Order of Merit in recognition of her achievements as “a family entrepreneur, protector of the environment and defender of human rights”.

She received the award from the president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, at a ceremony in Berlin on October 1. The Order of Merit, also called the Federal Cross of Merit, is the highest award that the state confers for services to the common good.

“It is a great honour, and it moves me greatly to accept this award,” Antje von Dewitz said. “I see it especially as recognition of the wonderful work done by our whole team at Vaude.”

Crown jewels

The thirtieth anniversary edition of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel and Fabrics took place in late August. The first event was in 1995.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Detlef Braun, a member of the executive board of organiser Messe Frankfurt, said the heritage and roots of the exhibition went back to 1987, when an event called Interstoff Asia launched in Hong Kong. “This was Messe Frankfurt’s first ever overseas show,” Mr Braun said, “and it led to the launch of Intertextile Shanghai.”

In the 30 years since the start of Intertextile Shanghai, he said a total of 103,000 exhibitors had taken part, adding that the event had attracted more than 2.4 million visitors across that time. “It is one of Messe Frankfurt’s crown jewels,” he continued, “and a major sourcing hub for the global textile industry. It is an incredible success story and the best is still in front of us.”

Regeneration project

Former Under Armour chief executive Patrik Frisk has announced his involvement in a new venture, a polyester recycling start-up called Reju. Based in Paris, Reju’s aim is to build a set-up that will allow polyester to be recycled “at unprecedented speed and scale”. It has now opened a first “regeneration hub” in Frankfurt and has established a presence in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, too.

According to Mr Frisk, Reju now has a plan in place to “provide hope for the textiles industry” through material regeneration.

Senior appointments at PrimaLoft

Performance insulation materials developer PrimaLoft has announced two senior appointments that, it says, “underscore a new strategic vision” that focuses on product innovation to “enable authentic experiences while reducing environmental impact”.

Chris Gallo is joining as PrimaLoft’s new senior vice-president for product strategy, bringing extensive experience of apparel, outerwear, footwear and accessories from working previously at New Balance, adidas and Reebok.

At the same time, Andrea Paulson will become PrimaLoft’s new senior vice-president for innovation and technology, joining from footwear brand Saucony, where she led on material development and innovation.

Expansion plans

Water-resistant breathable laminates developer eVent Fabrics, is expanding its team in response to growing demand and to support its recent expansion into the South Korean market.

Recent hires include Bartosz Lassak, who has joined the company’s US sales team from Primaloft as senior sales manager for the eastern US region. Textile enginer Xie Yi has also joined eVent after completing her studies at Donghua university in China. She will, eVent has said, engineer the next generation of its products.

It has also appointed Terry Kin as a market consultant for South Korea. He has extensive experience in the industry having spent 20 years in senior roles at Gore-Tex.

Brand identity

Under Armour has brought Unless Collective, a plastic­free sportswear brand, and its founder, Eric Liedtke, on board. Mr Liedtke spent 26 years at adidas, occupying the position of brand president from 2014 to 2019. He will now serve as Under Armour’s head of brand strategy and will also continue to helm Unless Collective.

On the up

Textile machinery group Rieter has announced Alexander Özbahadir as the new head of its after sales business unit. He will join the Swiss group on January 1, replacing Rico Randegger, who will step down from the role on December 31. Mr Özbahadir has extensive experience of working in China, having been a senior vice­president of business there for elevator technology provider, Schindler Group.

Natural move

Outdoor brand Icebreaker, now part of the VF group, has appointed Nick Barber as its new global product lead. He joins from Puma, where he spent a year as head of design for the brand’s Sportstyle collections, but he worked at VF Group before that, including as vice­president of apparel and accessories at Timberland. On joining Icebreaker at the start of August, Mr Barber expressed admiration for the brand’s New Zealand roots and heritage of harnessing the inherent properties of merino wool and using the fibre to equip athletes with “unparalleled comfort”.

A great fit

Sports company Puma has appointed Markus Neubrand as its chief financial officer (CFO). He arrives from holding the same position at Guess. Other previous jobs have been at MCM Worldwide and Hugo Boss. Puma chief executive, Arne Freundt, said Mr Neubrand was “a great fit” for the company.

Queen of hurdling

Athletic footwear brand New Balance was quick to acclaim Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin­Levrone when she successfully defended her title in Paris on August 8. In the course of winning the gold medal, the athlete broke the world record for the event for the sixth time, clocking a time of 50:37, cementing her reputation as the queen of hurdling. “Long may she reign,” New Balance said on social media immediately afterwards.

Backtrack

04 October 2024

YKK introduces repairable zipper elements

Children’s footwear education campaign from Sympatex

03 October 2024

Special edition recycled nylon jacket from Kathmandu

From first­responder gowns to Forloh anoraks

Trimco and Kezzler team up for DPP solution

02 October 2024

Record half­year revenues for JD Sports

UK white paper calls for immediate Extended Producer Responsibility fees

01 October 2024

Dim lines up sports range

27 September 2024

Fleeces ‘fuelled by outdoor adventure’

26 September 2024

Vaude outlines net zero pathway for 2040

25 September 2024

Textiles and circular projects praised at CNMI awards

Spatial Labs experiments with smart tags

24 September 2024

European Week of Sport embraces EU­Olympic values

Accelerating Circularity issues call to action with new targets

Teaming up for the glaciers

23 September 2024

Private equity firm takes controlling stake in sports textiles producer

Dynafit inaugurates new headquarters

Industry must re­evaluate fibre choices, Woolmark says

Optimism from Microfibre Consortium but challenges ahead

20 September 2024

Good Wool Collective prepares for first insight session

Fresh funds for enzymatic recycling start­up

Limitations on space make it impossible for us to run more than a carefully selected sample of industry news in WSA. 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.

19 September 2024

Lycra updates on sustainability goals and recycling progress

Retail group’s cotton claims supported by Haelixa

Special knit edition gilet at Rapha

18 September 2024

Two yarn producers join forces in France

Textiles waste start­up gets £250,000 boost

17 September 2024

New executive team at Dovetail

Hitex Textile moves away from recycled PET

16 September 2024

Legislation to be main topic of ICA event panel discussion

Lolë scoops up cycling brand

Norrøna and Protect Our Winters team up for Climate Week NYC

13 September 2024

Circular Textile Days opens next week

Relaunched F1 shoe makes its mark in Manhattan

Outerknown teams up with traceability platform Aware

12 September 2024

Refashion takes on a wider scope

Patagonia to work with Canopy on ‘next gen’ packaging

11 September 2024

Industry kudos for Polartec

Real­time market insight programme to expand

Minister praises German machinery partners’ progress on green hydrogen

10 September 2024

Shoe recycling obstacle melts away, BASF says

Soles in sync for top three UTMB runners

Fresh funds for algae start­up

Terrex selects PrimaLoft for Red Dot­winning jacket

09 September 2024

Bestseller acquires majority stake in Topshop

06 September 2024

Padel inspires Joma footwear launch FENC slashes GHG emissions 25% in four years

Step forward for Xeros’ microfibre filter machine

Speed shoe for trail­running from ASICS

05 September 2024

Microban and CiCLO link up

Unitex outlines upcoming fabric trends

04 September 2024

GOTS kicks off anti­greenwashing campaign

Rossignol continues diversification with first trail shoe

03 September 2024

Galy raises $33m for bioreactor­grown cotton expansion

Roadmap to make wool industry “nature­positive” launched

Decathlon plans to expand in India

02 September 2024

Collaborative effort to develop powered hiking pants

Good progress in African cotton sector, CmiA reports

Second quarter rise for Lululemon but law firm files suit

The Fibersort uses a near-infrared (NIR) scanner and algorithms developed by Valvan Baling Systems to predict the fibre concentration in each textile that is put on the scanner, including fibre blends.

CREDIT: CETIA

Disassembly lines

Clothes and shoes that can no longer be worn or sold are, in theory, fine fodder for being recycled into new materials. They would be but for the many, mostly manual, preparatory operations needed to convert them into a format suitable for regeneration. Clothes need to be sorted by composition and colour. The textile, leather and rubber components of footwear need to be separated. These processes, to name but two, take time, add cost, and have made it in practice nearly impossible to foster a viable recycling ecosystem, at least in developed countries.

French research centre CETIA was created specifically to develop automated solutions to replace manual operations. Its origins date back to 2017, when ESTIA, an engineering school based in Bidart, launched the Biarritz Active Lifestyle Integral or BALI Chair to investigate circular solutions for post­consumer apparel, footwear and accessories. It has found support among French companies, including textile technology provider Lectra Systems, footwear group Eram, and sports retailer Decathlon, among other local and international apparel, sports and footwear brands and retailers.

CETIA was created in 2021 by ESTIA and CETI, a European textile research centre, based in Tourcoing, its name is therefore not an

A research centre is testing and developing automated systems for dismantling textiles and leathergoods. These systems could unlock the tricky matter of preparing post­consumer clothing, footwear and accessories for recycling. The centre’s aim is to devise industrial­scale solutions that would make recycling in Europe more efficient and economically viable.

acronym but the fusion of its two founding institutions. Two years later, in September of 2023, it inaugurated a research and prototyping platform, in Hendaye, in the south ­ west of France. “Circularity very early on became a focal point for our research, and specifically the need to unlock key bottlenecks in preparing goods for recycling,” Chloé Salmon­Legagneur, head of the CETIA, tells WSA. “At the time, there were few such technologies.” The CETI had pilot tested the recycling of white T­ shirts made from 100% cotton or 100% polyester with Decathlon and children’s wear brand Okaidi. “A key takeaway

from this project was that collectors and sorters do not separate items for recycling, but rather for reuse as rags or refuse ­ derived fuel (RDF). Sorting centres did not necessarily sort items by composition, and composition labels are often either missing or illegible,” she says.

Pilot lines for testing

Testing existing technologies and devising new ones thus became the mission of the research centre, now housed in a 1,200 square ­ metre building. With financial support from the New Aquitaine region (€900,000), French Producer Responsibility Organisation Refashion (also €900,000), and industry partners chipping in, it was able to invest €2.4 million in the acquisition and engineering of machinery to streamline the preparatory phases of recycling. With a team of just eight people, it has been working on optimising existing equipment and creating new devices for collectors and sorters or recycling facilities.

The centre operates three pilot lines. It has a Fibersort machine, created by Belgian company Valvan, a maker of sorting and baling systems for the textile and recycling industries. This technology sorts textiles by composition and colour using spectrometry at a rate of one item per second. The device at CETIA dispatches clothes into ten different bins. But it can only identify single­layer apparel, as it cannot ‘see’ or detect the composition of a lining or a double ­ layered item of clothing. A first sorting process is therefore necessary to remove all multilayer clothes, which represent 12% of apparel feedstock, says Ms Salmon­Legagneur.

Equipment by Dell’Orco & Villani, a company based in Prato, opens bales, removes impurities and shreds textiles at a rate of 600 kg per hour. “These machines are efficient, but they degrade the quality of the fibres, which means that a

“ The goal is to extract the highest­quality secondary raw materials ”

CHLOÉ SALMON-LEGAGNEUR, CETIA

good proportion of virgin fibre would need to be added to make a new yarn,” she points out. “Our aim is to extract the highest quality secondary raw materials so that they can be reused to make new products.” Other solutions, such as grinding shoes, to make various types of flooring materials, and diverting low­grade textile fibres towards insulation, are always possible, but not preferred. “We need to extract high value from waste to pave the way to a circular economy,” insists the head of CETIA.

Prototyping new devices

In the quest to obtain higher quality secondary raw materials, CETIA was one of 18 partners participating in the EU­ funded SCIRT (System Circularity & Innovative Recycling of Textiles) innovation programme. Its research has

(Top:)The opener and tearing machines used by CETIA are made by Italian machinery maker Dell’Orco & Villani.

(Left:) Reshoes separates a shoe upper from a sole and was engineered in-house by CETIA.

CREDITS: CETIA

led to the development of a machine to automate the removal of disruptors. TRACE, as it is called, takes a photo of a garment laid flat, analyses the images to identify fasteners and decorations and then guides a laser beam that cuts these away. “When these pieces are shredded, the length of their fibres is preserved,” she explains. The research centre has a demonstrator of this device and has optimised it with additional sensors and artificial intelligence to better identify new materials.

Possibly the most impressive of the devices at CETIA is the Reshoes robot, designed in­house. This machine is programmed to identify the precise model of a shoe by drawing on a database and using machine learning. It can process sport and city footwear that is glued, stitched, injected or vulcanised. Once it has detected the shoes’ make and composition, it calculates the temperature and time for a passage in an oven (which can be from four to six minutes). A robotic arm then clasps on to a pair and tears the uppers away from the soles. Sewn soles are cut away by a water jet following a pattern calculated by artificial intelligence. In its current form at CETIA, it releases shoes from the oven every 30 seconds, and can thus process 120 shoes per hour. “We could make it go faster,” she says, “by installing two sets of ovens on two levels. It would then process a pair every 15 seconds.” The device is fully operational for athletic footwear, whereas city shoes are a bit more complicated, she notes.

The automatic identification of the specific model of footwear is the way forward for Ms Salmon­Legagneur. “We are confident that it is the best solution, and it is not expensive. The device consists of a conveyor belt and two cameras; there are no fancy robots or expensive sensors. This makes it relatively affordable for sorters.”

Reshoes will be all the more efficient in the future when shoes designed for disassembly become more common. “This will make it possible to cut away soles more precisely,” she notes, referring to tests conducted with Salomon’s Index shoe, which is designed for circularity.

Learnings from the development and operation of the machine could help brands revise certain design choices and manufacturing techniques to simplify dismantling. “When we run into an issue with a pair of shoes, we try to identify the origin of the problem. At times, a small tweak can make a product much easier to recycle,” says Pauline Arrouasse, an engineer at CETIA. Another issue, she says, is that brands do not always know what materials are used to make their products. “A rubber sole can be made from any number of different rubber­based compounds, and a brand may not be aware of the presence of other elements, metallic ones for instance.”

“For small brands that are just launching, it should not be difficult to design shoes that can be cleanly dismantled at the end of their use. But we need volumes, and for that we need big brands to apply this design thinking in their

CREDIT: SALOMON SPORTS

product development processes,” insists Ms Salmon ­ Legagneur. “With partners such as Decathlon and Salomon, we are on the right path to reaching the volumes that can justify this type of investment for a collector/sorter.”

The missing business model

The cost of preparing waste for recycling and low demand for recycled content remain major hurdles to a circular future. “We need to make these processes economically viable for both a recycler and for a buyer of recycled fibres and materials,” says Ms Salmon­Legagneur. But she is optimistic: “Brands say they want to increase recycled content in their products, and if collectors and sorters see a market opportunity, they may decide to invest in the necessary equipment.” She sees possible unlocks in measures such as modulated eco­fees that increase the cost of virgin raw materials. “This would financially benefit brands that purchase recycled ones.” Other legislation can play a role, such as banning the destruction of unsold products in France, which increases the volume of feedstock for recycling. Finally, she notes that there is also the possibility that virgin raw materials become scarcer in the future. Like the automated solutions CETIA is developing to prepare goods for recycling, here too, market mechanics may need to be tweaked or optimised before a working business model is found.

Salomon’s Index shoe was designed to be easy to dismantle and was tested by CETIA.

Untangling the second-hand clothing trade

What really happens to the used clothes we donate to charity without a thought? Numerous reports have been published on the second­hand clothing trade and its repercussions, with media relaying striking images of dumping grounds in the vicinity of the markets of Kantamanto, in Accra, Ghana or Kampala in Uganda, not to mention the Atacama Desert in Chile. Their findings vary widely. Does textile waste make up less than 10%, as some claim, or 40%, the figure most often quoted in the media and based on a widely publicised document by the Or Foundation?

The trade in second­hand clothing is complex and global. Like many waste management sectors, it is not a paragon of transparency. Last month, the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) held its first­ever conference on textiles. The Brussels­based organisation brought together representatives from Europe, Africa and Asia to shed light on the intricacies of a highly convoluted but inherently circular economy.

We know where the market for second­hand clothing starts: in our overfull closets. But what

It is well known that shiploads of second­hand clothes are transported from Europe and North America to Africa, Pakistan, Chile and other places. Some are sold in local markets. But how such a large volume of these garments end up in dumping grounds or on shorelines is a topic of much debate.

happens once we have donated them to charity? Each stage of their odyssey, from street bin to market stall and to landfill, generates revenue for businesses both large and small. Calling them ‘waste’ is a first friction point in understanding the sector, and this was the subject of a panel talk at the BIR conference.

The second­hand clothing business originates in developed countries, where bring­back containers, retailer take­back schemes and charities are the first to capture our unwanted

Sellers working in the Nakakero Road market in Kampala, Uganda.

stuff. These used clothes, home textiles and shoes are directed to collectors and sorters who separate what can be reworn, and thus resold, locally or abroad. The ‘crème’, which represents around 5% of total collected volumes, usually stays in Western Europe. Depending on their quality, the remaining rewearable items are sold to wholesalers for further sorting and exported worldwide. Second­grade textiles are typically sent to Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the lowest qualities to Asian markets, and a special grade of lightweight garments known as ‘tropical mix’ is exported to sub­Saharan Africa. This is the initial sorting process that used clothing undergoes according to a report, “LCA­based assessment of the management of European used textiles”, published in 2023 by Norion Consult, a Danish consultancy, for EuRIC textiles, the textile division of the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation.

This reusable portion of the clothing collected in developed countries is believed to represent roughly 55­60% of volumes collected, and probably a larger proportion of a collector’s revenues. What cannot be reworn, can have value. Cotton­rich textiles are cut into squares and sold as industrial cleaning wipes, often on site, and other non­rewearable items can be used to make various insulation materials. These open­loop recycling circuits are another source of income for collectors, and which they would not call downcycling.

But this first leg of the used clothing trade faces increasingly difficult times, due to a variety of factors, says Mariska Boer, president of EuRIC Textiles and co­owner of Boer Group, a Dutch collector and sorter. With the rise of fast fashion and even more so with ultra­fast fashion, the quality of second­hand clothing has steadily declined. Peer­to­peer resale platforms are also drying up this sector’s resources. Meanwhile, their energy and labour costs have risen. “Sorting remains largely manual, as automated systems are not fully efficient, and wages account for 70% of our operating expenses,” she says.

“If well sorted, textiles have a big potential for reuse,” says Ms Boer, but she points out that reuse and recycling are two fundamentally different markets. “While there is a business model for reuse, there is none for recycling. Today, the reuse market is funding the recycling one.” She calls for financial incentives to make recycling commercially viable for collectors and sorters, and would like to see restrictions put on the import of throwaway fashion into Europe.

The European Union is taking steps to better manage discarded clothing, specifically with Extended Producer Responsibility frameworks, which are designed to help finance a stronger infrastructure for reuse, repair and recycling. France established one for textiles and footwear in 2008, the Netherlands and Hungary have one, and a voluntary system exists in the Flanders region of Belgium. The amount of post­consumer textiles collected is expected to increase when their separate collection becomes mandatory in

the European Union on 1 January 2025. Maud Hardy, general manager of ReFashion, the French producer responsibility organisation, says that the government has requested the organisation double collection rates by 2028. A prospect she finds daunting. In 2023, 268,161 tonnes of used clothing, home textiles and footwear were collected in France, or almost 4 kg per inhabitant.

Fit for reuse or not?

While the recycling infrastructure in Europe is at a very early stage of industrialisation, the notion of waste hierarchy recommends reuse before recycling. Furthermore, the global trade in second­hand clothing is a source of livelihood for many in the Global South. A vast majority of Ghanaians, some 95% of the population, consume used clothing, as reported by the Swiss Academy for Development (SAD) in 1997. Teresiah Wairimu, chair of the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya, who participated in the BIR conference via

Sorting process in a Boer Group facility: used items are sorted into 350 or 400 categories. Rewearable items make up roughly 49%, followed by recycling (21%), rags (17%), refuse (8%) and shoes (7%).

CREDIT: BOER GROUP

Bins of Swiss collector and sorter Texaid. “For items that cannot be reworn, we need both open and closed loop recycling,” said Anna Pehrsson, the company’s head of circularity at the BIR conference on textiles.

CREDIT: TEXAID

video, says her organisation represents “two million people directly employed in the used clothing industry and more than 20 million others depending on it for their livelihood”.

In 2019, the European Union exported 1.3 million tonnes of used clothes, up from 400,000 tonnes in 2003, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA). Africa is the main market, accounting for 46% of exports, followed by Asia (41%), non­EU European countries (11%) and South America (1%). While some countries are calling for a ban on the export of second­hand clothing to non­OECD countries, both exporters and importers of these sorted and baled goods strongly oppose such measures. The issue hinges on differing perceptions of what second­hand clothing is: is it waste or a resource?

The codes for used textiles exported by the EU are divided into two product categories: worn textiles and clothing ‘fit for reuse’ are coded 6309 whereas ‘sorted and unsorted used rags and textile waste’ are coded 6310. The EEA report notes, however, that “many textiles are exported unsorted and most likely contain both items fit and unfit for reuse. So, the classification does not necessarily describe the actual state of what is exported.”

At the BIR conference, Marlvin Owusu, an executive member of the Ghana Used Clothing Dealers Association, confirms that “one of the biggest challenges we have is simply the misconception of second­hand clothing”. The association’s own research, “An evaluation of the socio­economic and environmental impact of the second­hand clothes trade in Ghana”, published earlier this year, found that waste represents 5% of the second­hand clothes imported. “Mostly everything is kept in circulation, we are contributing to a circular economy,” he insists. Reports suggesting that imported bales contain 40% waste cannot be trusted, he argues, because “there is no business model in the world that could support a waste level of 40%”.

Ms Wairimu agrees that these figures reveal a misunderstanding of African markets. Her organisation has found that textile waste in Nairobi accounts for 1.89% of imports. “We are business people, we import goods for sale and our government regulates and forbids waste. In Kenya, we only import sorted clothes and we are leading the way on building a circular economy through textile use. It is very insulting to hear we are importing waste,” she says. The issue of waste management in Kenya is a completely different problem that has nothing to do with ‘mitumba’, the second­hand clothing trade, she adds.

WasteAid, a British organisation addressing waste management issues in developing countries, is about to publish its own report on textile waste generated by the Owino market in Kampala, Uganda. Michelle Wilson, director of programmes, says some 50,000 vendors sell second­hand clothing and 30,000 people visit the market every day. WasteAid surveyed more than 1,000 traders over a two­week period. “Our

findings indicate that the actual waste generated resulted mostly from the tailors and machinists who transform used clothes for customers,” she says, noting that the organisation interviewed 600 tailors. “Our findings indicate that waste makes up only 1%, possibly as little as 0.9%, of used clothing imports.” However, she points out that some unsold clothes may not have been counted in WasteAid’s research. “Some may be sent to other urban centres in Uganda. Another category of unsold goods may be what is locally called ‘fagi’.” This term is used to describe items that are either not timely or not fashionable, and are usually set aside to be sold at a more opportune moment. “The initial findings, I'll be honest, surprised me,” she told the audience. WasteAid’s report will be released this October and received funding from Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Programme (SMET), a UK government fund.

‘Dead white man’s clothes’, as they are called in Africa, are a source of income and clothing for multitudes. How many of us in the Global North have ever given a thought to their possible repurposing, what we would call upcycling, by local tailors? Our unwanted clothes are adjusted for size, sleeves are removed or repaired, jeans can be fitted or flared by taking a panel from another, the possibilities are endless. As are the cuttings.

So what about the mountains of waste we equate with a faulty second­hand clothing trade? Attendees at the BIR conference, most of whom are in the recycling business, recommend that we take a closer look at those open­air dumps. There is certainly a lot of textiles, but there is also a lot of other types of garbage that should not be there.

The second­hand clothing trade is complex and mostly artisanal. Speakers at the BIR conference insist that it should not be conflated with the lack of an efficient waste management infrastructure in the Global South. And especially, as Lisa Jepsen, CEO of US­based collector and sorter Gerson & Shaw, tells WSA , “we need to stop calling it waste”.

From

to right: Beatriz Fernandez (UNEP), Michelle Wilson (WasteAid), Peter Lund-Thomson (professor at the Copenhagen Business School), Marlvin Owusu, (Ghana Used Clothing Dealers Association), Mariska Boer (EuRIC Textiles) and moderator, Alan Wheeler (UK Textile Recycling Association).

CREDIT: BIR

Speakers at a panel talk at the BIR Textiles Circularity event.

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Alongside the release of a second planetary boundary assessment, which monitors its activities as a whole, Houdini is expanding the scope of how it measures the impact of its garments.

New ground

Swedish outdoor brand Houdini has a strong track record for breaking new ground in sustainable practices, from how it chooses its raw materials to how it designs and sells its products. This all­encompassing approach is the result of ‘planetary boundary’ thinking, which seeks to align business with the Earth’s natural system. Houdini embarked on this journey back in 2015. Since then, its ambition has been “to work in symbiosis with nature”, according to chief executive, Eva Karlsson. “If you want your activities to be in harmony with natural ecosystems, you cannot just count carbon emissions,” she tells WSA. “You must take a more holistic view.”

She points out that measures taken to reduce a company’s greenhouse gas emissions can have unintended consequences that cause more harm than good. This raised a flag, and made it clear to Houdini that it needed to take a much broader view. The science­based approach of Planetary Boundaries ticks all the boxes. “It has helped us identify the questions we need to ask ourselves and our suppliers,” the CEO continues. “It showed us how to move forward in the right direction.”

Houdini published a first report in 2018, and expected to update it every three years, but found that more time was needed to make it truly meaningful. For its latest report, it further expanded the scope of its analysis to encompass its impact as a brand on the evolution of lifestyles, drawing on another research project, its Regenerative Lifestyles Initiative, that led to the publication of a white paper in 2020.

A new formula

Learnings from its first planetary boundaries assessment and the Regenerative Lifestyle Initiative inspired the Swedish brand to devise a new mathematical impact formula. It starts with data similar to that of a lifecycle assessment for a product (P), but its reach goes much further as it makes the company accountable for volumes produced and wardrobes enabled (V) as well as corporate life lived and lifestyle promoted (L). The formula reads: Product x Volume + Life (usage) = Impact or P x V + L = I.

“This formula compels us to think in terms of a wardrobe and how we could potentially contribute to making it less impactful as a whole. It is not only about doing less bad; it is also about proposing a better solution,” says the head of Houdini. Including product usage fills a big gap. “It is a way to be more aware of, or better comprehend at an emotional level, the difference between a linear and a circular economy,” she says.

Integrating volumes into a company’s impacts is a no­brainer for Eva Karlsson. Without this parameter, she posits that the data is near meaningless. Brands rarely include volumes produced in their sustainability goals, whereas she believes it is one of the “biggest design flaws” in today’s fashion system. “Shifting from overproduction to responsible production volumes takes nothing

The Power Houdi is one of the brand’s oldest running and best-selling products, and it was the reference chosen to evaluate how many times and how long its customers wore the item. The poll found this was on average 1,287 times.

CREDIT: HOUDINI

“ If you want your activities to be in harmony with natural ecosystems, you cannot just count carbon emissions. ”

EVA KARLSSON, HOUDINI

but will power, and could be achieved within a couple of seasons,” she says.

To assess its so­called lifestyle impact, Houdini conducted a survey among customers that had bought its Power Houdi, one of its oldest and best­selling references. “It has been a part of our ranges for some 20 years, which ensured we would get a high­quality data set,” says Ms Karlsson. The 400 people polled wore the garment on average 1,287 times over a period that can exceed 10 years. As the report notes: “Good product design can radically extend product lifetime, promote circular use and transform the entire apparel system from linear, fast and wasteful to circular, slow and waste­free.”

Material headwinds

The dilemma that the Houdini CEO is well aware of is that the Power Houdi is made from a synthetic fibre and will last longer than a similar garment made from a natural fibre. The brand does offer soft shells made in wool. “There is a clear difference between items of clothing made from a synthetic and natural fibres. The latter will require more care, and more repairs,” she says.

The report presents detailed information on the materials Houdini uses, in actual volumes, something that few brands do. The share of pure natural fibres in its s/s 2023 and a/w 2023­24 collections increased from 6.2% in 2014­2015 to

11% in 2023. Its use of Tencel Lyocell went from 0% to 7.3%, while the proportion of wool shrank from 4.9% to 3.8%.

In that same 10­year period, the brand’s usage of mechanically recycled polyester nearly tripled (from 12.9% to 38.3%) but chemically recycled polyester dropped from 20.6% to 2%. Fossil­based synthetics – polyester, polyamide and elastane –though significantly lower, still make up 48% of all fibres in Houdini’s collections. This, the report notes, leaves plenty of room for improvement.

These numbers highlight another dilemma the brand faces: lack of infrastructure to recycle used textiles into new fibres. One of its first goals was to phase out virgin polyester. “We thought we could achieve this in 2022, but found that it was impossible for a small company like us.”

Houdini introduced its first products made from 100% textile­to­textile recycled polyester in 2007. “But the price structure moved in the wrong direction,” says the executive, and the mill could no longer offer a fully recycled version. “Our supplier had to reduce the proportion of recycled content down to 70% and blend it with recycled polyester made from PET bottles or virgin polyester to stay in business.” Without legislation, she says, textile­to­textile recycling will never scale. But she notes that PFAS, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, is an example of a positive development. “With new legislation, or the threat of legislation, brands are finally taking action.” She is of a mind that making the petrochemical industry accountable for its impacts would be a step in the right direction.

Quality of data

The brand’s planetary assessment report takes care to note that accurate data on the impact of fibre production is lacking, for both natural and synthetic fibres. It highlights the shortcomings of LCAs, whose scope is not as complete as that of planetary boundaries. The Higg Materials

Eva Karlsson has held the top position at Houdini since 2001.

CREDIT: GABRIEL LILJEVALL

The brand has been PFAS-free since 2018. In line with its precautionary principle, it never used PFAS-based membranes.

CREDIT: HOUDINI

Sustainability Index, for instance, was excluded as a resource in its latest report.

Fixing the system is a complex matter. The energy mix of a factory is easy to assess, says Ms Karlsson, but freshwater is less straightforward. “It might not be an issue in one part of the world and could be critical in another.” Houdini’s wool suppliers are now certified under ZQRX, the regenerative farming protocol of the New Zealand Merino Company. “These farmers rotate their flocks and know how many sheep they can raise on their stations. This is not about data, but about understanding the land, the needs of the animals and the farm.”

Material impact assessments should be made open source to ensure reliable data, she says. “We need to be able to compare our data with that of other brands. This could create a collaborative context that is also a little bit competitive so that we all strive to do better.”

New business models

Beyond the impacts of making a product, there is also the matter of selling it, and Houdini has been experimenting with new business models that extend value and life. The brand has offered repairing services since Ms Karlsson became head of the company in 2001. “It is a service that our customers appreciate, but we still need to make it cool.” Jeans are a good example of turning a sign of wear into an added value. The company also offers rental and resale services, and both are growing, she tells WSA.

For the past six months, the company has been testing a subscription service at its Houdini Circle store, in Stockholm, and online. It allows a potential buyer to choose from products that are either new, used or remade (upcycled). Once they find the product they want, they can decide to own it, rent it or subscribe to it. A subscription offers various additional services such as access to workshops, experiences or exclusives. “It is very cool to see how people are being encouraged to reflect on

ABOUT PLANETARY BOUNDARIES

The first planetary boundaries framework was published in 2009 by an international team of researchers in Nature. At the time, three boundaries had already been crossed: climate change, rate of biodiversity loss, and changes to the global nitrogen cycle. It has since been regularly updated, with new input for chemicals, blue and green water, and social impacts. Its latest version, from 2023, found that ten boundaries have now been passed. This pioneering science­based work now informs other frameworks such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and its European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). It will require large companies to report impact on climate, pollution, water and marine resources, biodiversity and ecosystems, as well as resource use and circular economy. This means, in essence, as Houdini’s report notes, that an increasing number of companies will have to deal with their impacts on more or less all planetary boundary processes.

their actual needs,” she says. A customer can decide to subscribe to a small wardrobe of three to six products, choosing a selection for winter and another for summer. The company is working on integrating all options and making them as user centric as possible. “The backend of these pooled services is still a bit troublesome,” she concedes.

“We discussed the evolution of our business models at a board meeting,” Ms Karlsson goes on to say. Usually, a brand will develop a collection at a lower price point to grow its sales, but this, she notes, leads to compromising on ethics, quality and working conditions. Houdini’s resale and remade ranges allow it to offer a lower price point as well as extend the life of a garment. Second­hand goods have thus become Houdini’s entry range. It is another way to nudge consumers towards more meaningful consumption habits. “People are more aware now that if they buy a garment that is made to last, they wear it many times over many years, and take good care of it, it will have a much lower impact than one that is worn only ten times.” Case in point: a Power Houdi that is only two years old can easily have another five to 10 years of usage in it.

The Houdini Circle store in Stockholm is piloting a project to offer subscription services, along with its existing rental, second-hand and remade ranges.

CREDIT: HOUDINI

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Sweet deal for stretch

“The bio business will become a core pillar of Hyosung for the next 100 years” – a far­sighted statement from the Korean group’s chairman Hyun­Joon Cho as it announced a $1 billion investment in bio­based butanediol (BDO). A key ingredient in elastane, bio­BDO will be made using a process developed by US­based biomaterials developer Geno, and the funding will enable the building of a new manufacturing facility in Vietnam to enhance Hyosung’s existing site and create a full­service chain from raw ingredient to fibre.

The move is underpinned by a vision of the textiles industry of the future, as customer sentiment moves towards sustainable options and regulation demands transparent chains with renewable, circular or recycled inputs. Suppliers are working hard to enable brands to make better choices for their customers and the planet. “While we are at the start of the value chain, we also spend a lot of time at brand and retail level, talking to customers about elastane, what are they looking for, what the challenges are and how can we work together,” Hyosung’s global sustainability director, Simon Whitmarsh­Knight, tells WSA “Regulations and consumer awareness are changing the industry, so we like to work in partnership with brands and retailers to make sure they are getting what they need.”

Geno’s genesis

Geno, formerly known as Genomatica, has been building its biobased materials processes for more than 15 years, with a focus on shifting from

RISE TO THE CHALLENGE

With an in investment of $1 billion, Hyosung is showing a strong commitment to renewable resources for its elastane offerings.

non

renewable raw materials to those made from plants or waste. It produced its first biobased BDO in 2008, scaling it up with French biochemicals group Novamont in 2016. A year later, it made a biobased butylene glycol (used in shampoos and lotions) for the beauty industry, and in 2020 partnered Italy’s Aquafil for a plant­based nylon, used by Canadian brand Lululemon. Geno now sits on a portfolio of 1,800 patents and applications following investments of more than $300 million.

Conventional BDO, often made from coal from China, is used to produce 2.5 million tonnes of polymers every year and is a $5 billion a year industry, according to Geno’s estimates. BDO is a precursor to polyteramethylene ether glycol, PTMG, a major chemical intermediate that can be used to create everything from automotive plastics to electronics and shoes, and is combined with MDI, an isocyanate, to make elastane. Geno’s technology uses various forms of sugar sources – industrial corn, sugarcane and sugar beets – and licenses the know­ how to chemicals or fibre groups. “The licensing business model is well ­ understood in the chemical industry,” says Christophe Schilling, co­founder

Geno’s technology converts sugar from sugarcane into the building blocks it needs to create a biobased BDO.

CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

and CEO of Genomatica. “We provide the entire package, including engineering designs, how to operate it, as well as the microbe that does the magic inside the fermentation tanks, converting sugar into BDO.”

Earlier this year, Hyosung received approval from the provincial government in southern Vietnam to produce bio­BDO at its factory in southern Ba Ria­Vung Tau Province, manufacture PTMG at a nearby factory in Dong Nai and then use this to mass­produce Regen Bio elastane at the Dong Nai spandex factory. It will mean the raw material will be derived from sugar cane, not the commercial industrial corn that it is currently using. “Although we will have to import the sugar cane from suitable supply chains, we will have a plant that can then make the whole product to the finished elastane, so that will mean a significant reduction in carbon emissions, as we are doing it all in one site,” says Mr Whitmarsh­Knight.

Hyosung commercialised USDA­ and SGS­certified biobased elastane made with 30% industrial corn in 2022, which has a 20% lower carbon footprint than a comparable conventionally made elastane, according to an independent lifecycle assessment (LCA). Hyosung’s current biobased elastane offering – under its brand name Regen Bio – now includes options made with higher bio­based content derived from renewable resources. LCAs for the higher­content versions are due soon. “It is so important that both the recycled and biobased products have the same high performance as the virgin elastane, in terms of stretch, recovery and modulus, for instance,” says Mr Whitmarsh­Knight. “We have done thousands of trials with mills around the world that are using the fibre in knitted fabric, woven fabric and footwear, and it is performing in exactly the same way.”

Regulatory stick

With manufacturers and suppliers investing heavily in R&D and more sustainable products, there is a nervousness in some sectors about whether buyers will place the necessary volumes to fund their production and development. A slew of incoming regulations that will demand a more sustainable footprint for products sold in Europe –the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products regulation and Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles among them – should provide the nudge many are waiting for. “We will also need to see two or three leading retailers and brands really get behind new technologies, as that will then make the real difference. That needs strong leadership,” he says. The digitalisation of the supply chain, as companies prepare for Europe’s Digital Product Passport rules (where each item will need to show information related to sustainability and circularity) should also boost ‘lower­impact’ textiles, as materials and ingredients will be more transparent and trackable, he suggests.

The need for more ‘sustainable’ versions of elastane is pressing, as the global apparel market grows. Although it makes up only around 1% of

global fibre production, it carries “outsized importance” given that it is found in a large volume of products, according to the US­based Textile Exchange. In its 2023 Materials Report, the non­profit said elastane fibre production is increasing slowly but steadily, rising from 1.16 million tonnes in 2021 to 1.24 million tonnes in 2022.

Despite millions of dollars pouring into research around the recycling of elastane, it remains a sticking point, which is one reason producers are heading down the bio route, that is offering an alternative way into ‘more sustainable’ elastane. The Lycra Company has partnered US­based Qore, also using Geno’s technology, to produce a portion of its BDO from industrial corn from next year onwards.

“Recycling is the holy grail for any spandex producer because all elastane has the same problem, that above a certain content, it’s not currently possible to recycle,” explains Mr Whitmarsh­Knight. “There is a great deal of investment and science and technology looking at this space. Our ultimate goal is to make elastane with renewable resources and also have the technology to make it recyclable. That’s the overall direction of travel.” Despite the difficulties faced with recycling, the share of recycled elastane was estimated to be about 3% of global elastane fibre production volumes in 2022, according to the Textile Exchange.

The new biobased elastane will slot into Hyosung’s Regen portfolio, which includes recycled versions of 100% recycled elastane, made from post­industrial waste, as well as options such as Regen Ocean fibre, made from waste fishing nets; Regen Ocean polyester, made from ocean­bound plastic; and Regen Xanadu, made with a blend of recycled post­consumer PET and corn­based materials. In June, it announced a partnership with Ambercycle to make textile­to­textile, circular polyester available to textiles manufacturers in South Korea. “The industry is still looking at various sustainability options – is recycled better, or biobased, or is it something completely new coming down the line?” Mr Whitmarsh­Knight says. “Until the industry decides to go down one avenue, we want to offer a complete range of solutions.”

Elastane fibre production based on Maia Research 2023 and global data compilation.

CREDIT: TEXTILE EXCHANGE

Elastane fibre produc on (million tonnes)

Tipping the needle

The pendulum has started to swing on “next­generation” and lower­impact materials, as companies begin to seriously analyse their raw material selections and consider how to shift the manufacturing juggernaut in a more sustainable direction, according to the organisers of the Future Fabrics Expo (FFE). They say they are witnessing “huge changes” in how many brands and companies are taking sustainable sourcing more seriously, as well as a growing number of start­ups in the arena, commercialising new materials at a quicker pace.

‘Next­gen’ materials make up less than 1% of the global fibre basket currently, but this could increase by up to 13% by 2030, according to sustainability hub Fashion for Good. Consultancy Quantis suggests there are 35 incoming regulations that will affect the fashion sector in the next five years and new material sources are imperative if retailers are to comply with these rules. It went so far as to say brands’ profits could be affected by up to 8% if they fail to switch materials – in terms of products not reaching the market (for instance, held up at customs), as well as fines.

“We are in a critical moment in history as regards our raw material dependencies and how they impact on environment, societies and climate change,” Amanda Johnston, curator of FFE, tells WSA. The incoming EU legislation around fashion, circularity and traceability have created a strong impetus for brands to learn more about materials and their supply chains, she adds. “It's all starting to create a situation where people are now, with urgency, wanting to change.”

NEWCOMERS

An

increasing number of start­ups are hoping to serve the fashion industry’s growing interest in

‘next­generation’ materials.

Nutrient recovery

An overarching theme for many materials start­ups is repurposing waste, or looking at it from a new perspective, in terms of “recovering nutrients”. “It’s not just industrial and post­consumer product waste, it’s also thinking about unique waste areas, such as start­up Arda Biomaterials, which is taking a slurry of beer waste and making a beautiful material, as well as Canopy, which is working with agricultural waste,” explains Ms Johnston. “We’ve seen lots of really interesting materials using waste streams that did not have any value attached to them.”

One such company is US start­up Simplifyber, which has patented both a new material stream and a new way of manufacturing and, at the end of September, teased a shoe range from Ganni. The feedstock is a cellulose­based slurry made from waste from the wood industry, but can include everything from recycled paper to waste wool or materials such as hemp. Co­founder Maria Intscher­Owrang worked as a high­end fashion designer for more than 20 years, but wasn’t happy with the level of impact she was having and

Danish brand Ganni does not shy away from next-gen materials. Here, it teases a design made from Simplifyber’s cellulose slurry. CREDIT: SIMPLIFYBER

wanted to pursue a novel approach. “We use the materials when they’re at the beginning of the supply chain,” she tells us. “That makes our unit economics work better than plastic when you hit the thousands of products. Even taking into account the cost of moulds and tooling, it becomes cheaper. I really think that’s the only way we’re going to change the industry.”

Simplifyber works with footwear factories and sole suppliers near its base in North Carolina to offer a full shoe. The uppers can be coated with various finishes to make them durable and waterproof. Its long­term aim is to provide its slurry and machinery to manufacturers globally, so local supply chains can be set up and use waste from different industries to create the upper.

Stepping stones

Environmental organisation Parley for the Oceans is expanding its remit to support next ­ gen materials and help companies transition from virgin plastics as part of its AIR – avoid, intercept and redesign – strategy. From its launch in 2008, it focused on seminars, moving into facilitating the collection of ocean ­ bound plastics, then working with textiles makers such as FENC in Taiwan to provide recycled polyester to brands. One of the most well ­ known of these collaborations is the Adidas Parley knitted shoe ranges. “For the 'avoid' part of the strategy, we look at a company’s whole operations, from products, to events, to their office, to help them to avoid virgin plastic,” Federico Tarditi, head of global partnerships at Parley, tells us. “We intercept plastic from the water and upcycle it into clothing, footwear and accessories.”

“ Plastic is a stepping stone into these new materials. ”

FEDERICO TARDITI, PARLEY FOR THE OCEANS

An example of ‘redesign’ is a new collaboration with US company Sky High Farm Universe, resulting in a jacket made with mushrooms and chitosan (from crustacean shells) by Tomtex and an insulation material made with seeds from the wetlands by Ponda Biobuff. “Increasingly, we’re looking to implement these next­gen materials into the supply chains of our partners," said Mr Tarditi. "The plastic is a stepping stone into these new materials, but the development and implementation could take five to 10 years.”

Parley also created a denim jacket containing banana fibres from Swiss company Qwstion, dyed with wood waste from Nature Coatings. Made from 100% abacá, a banana species grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, the Bananatex fabric is made by turning fibres into paper, which is spun into yarn and then woven in Taiwan for applications such as bags and footwear. Qwiston’s Bananatex denim is made by an Italian mill.

Seaweed offers its properties to several new products, including a fabric range from Spanish textiles company Pyratex. US ­ based start ­ up Soarce has pooled the knowledge of former NASA and nanomaterials specialists to create textiles auxiliaries from kelp. Its flagship product, Searamic, is composed of nanoceramics with a seaweed binder, used in the dyeing process, imparting properties such as

Future Fabrics Expo is growing year on year. This summer, the London show attracted 2,000 visitors, who were able to view 6,000 materials swatches and speak to 70 exhibitors.

CREDIT: FFE

UV and fire resistance, according to the company. It has worked with Living Ink Technologies’ algae pigment to dye fabrics in black shades, bound by Searamic.

Rethinking the process

Many of these new companies are thinking not only of the raw materials but also finding new ways to make. “That is really future­thinking because you're changing both the materiality and the manufacturing process,” says Ms Johnston.

Footwear brand Vivobarefoot wants to produce custom­made shoes close to the end consumer. It has partnered French start­up Balena, which supplies a bio­based material, and then creates a 3D printed shoe from a scan of a customer’s foot. The bio­based sources are from castor plants and polysaccharides, bound with a biodegradable polymer.

Although not a start­up, Swiss company Beyond Surface Technologies (BST) also scours nature for fossil alternatives and has unveiled two textiles finishes that are 100% biobased. The first is a durable water repellent that uses Candelilla wax from the leaves of the small candelilla shrub, native to northern Mexico and the southwestern US. The second is a wicking finish made using microalgae. “This is the future of the bio industry, because every natural oil can be produced by microalgae,” explains Urs Hasler, chief operations officer at BST. “Currently, we only have access to 10 or 20 natural oils industrially. But we could collect the microalgae, repopulate it, and theoretically get any natural oil industrially produced.”

High­level impetus

A bit further away from commercialisation is Modern Synthesis. The company was founded in 2019 by former adidas designer Jen Keane, and has since grown to employ 22 in its London headquarters. The company works with bacteria that naturally produce nanocellulose, with the aim of growing the top of an athletic shoe. It has backing from Ganni and has won awards including the Mills Fabrica Techstyle prize and the LVMH Green Trail award.

Future Fabrics’ Claire Weiss, who curates the innovation and technology section of the expo, comments that the fact there are 50 fresh start­ups each year demonstrates the willingness of investors to support nascent technologies. “In previous years, there has been a bigger focus on earlier­stage companies, whereas now they seem to be getting to a solid proof of concept a lot quicker,” she tells us. “The rate of innovation is speeding up and ideas are coming to market relatively quickly. These are the companies that are asking all the right questions to make sure that what they’re doing is best practice and what they’re considering, when scaled, is going to have the positive impact that they aim to have. Chemical and technological advancements have also allowed quicker implementation of certain technologies.” The ‘sustainability hub’ section of the expo has grown from supporting 130 innovators in 2017 to 650 this year.

Ultimately, the changes need to come from deep within companies, starting with the CEO and board, as trying to pull the fashion sector away from petrochemicals and towards natural or lower­impact materials and processes will need both investment and action. Investors must also believe in the commercial potential of the start­ups – they will need to see viability, scalability and the potential for profitability. Many start­ups fall at funding hurdles, with investment firms too impatient to wait years for R&D and scale­up when retailers’ commitment is uncertain.

But brands have also set ambitious targets for using recycled or lower­impact materials, and therefore should be showing willingness to commit. Adidas, for instance, said in 2021 that nine out of 10 products should be ‘sustainable’ by 2025, including reducing its CO2 footprint per product by 15%. Retail giant Inditex has said by 2030, 100% of its textile products will be made exclusively from materials with a smaller environmental footprint. Outdoor brand Vaude has stated that by 2030, 90% of all products will be made from at least 85% biobased or recycled materials. Currently, polyester makes up 54% of global fibre usage, according to The Textile Exchange, with nylon and other oil­based synthetics 11%, cotton 22%, man­made cellulosics 6%, other plant­based 5% and protein­based 1%. “Companies can change their supply chains but it needs to come from the CEOs, then all the designers and product development teams need to be on board,” adds Ms Johnston. “We've got the solutions there for them and we are looking towards the next generation, or those materials that are on the cusp of becoming commercially relevant. If everybody gets on board, that will tip that needle and change our raw material dependencies.”

UK brand Vivobarefoot has created a vision for a 3D printed shoe designed from a foot scan, using a biodegradable material by Balena.

CREDIT: WTP

Advertise in WSA & sportstextiles.com to promote your

For more information: simon@worldtrades.co.uk

and

“ After years of growth, the market share of recycled fibres decreased in 2023. ” TEXTILE EXCHANGE

Wrong direction

Preferred materials and standardisation non­profit Textile Exchange published its 2024 Materials Market Report at the end of September. The report shines a stark light on the unrelenting pace of growth in global fibre production and on the relatively small role that recycled fibres still play.

One headline finding is that global fibre production in 2023 reached 124 million tonnes in volume, a 7% increase on the figure for the previous year. Textile Exchange warns that if current trends continue, the figure will reach 160 million tonnes in 2030. It says the 2023 figure was a record and represented a doubling of global fibre production volumes since the start of the century. In truth, volumes are now more than double what they were in 2000; the figure Textile Exchange gives for that year is a volume of 58 million tonnes. The organisation has calculated that, if distribution were equal, people in 1975 would have had a share of 8.3 kilos of fibre each. This has now increased to 15.5 kilos per person, not quite double, but close to it.

Polyester sets the pace

The production of polyester reached 71 million tonnes in 2023, an increase of more than 12.5% year on year. Textile Exchange says that polyester alone accounted for 57% of total fibre production and is, by some margin, the most widely produced fibre in the world. This has been the case for some time, but the gap between polyester and the rest is widening.

In 2007, when Textile Exchange launched (it had previously worked as Organic Exchange with a focus exclusively on organic cotton), the then technical director of fibre manufacturer Invista, Dr Bob Kirkwood, calculated, from what he called the best information available to him at the time, that polyester’s share of the fibre market then was 46%. It was already well ahead of cotton; he put cotton’s share then at 38%, a figure that has since fallen sharply.

A growing gap

According to Textile Exchange’s figures, cotton now accounts for only 20% of global fibre production, with volumes of 24.4 million tonnes in

SUSTAINABILITY

Global fibre production reached a record figure in 2023, but recycled fibres contributed only 7.7% to the total.

the 2022­2023 season (August­July). This figure represents a decline of 2.8% compared to the 2021­2022 cotton season. As the Materials Market Report points out, weather conditions, farmers’ preferences and socio­political challenges can all cause variations in the global cotton crop. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that 24.6 million tonnes will be the figure for 2023­2024 and its early­stage projection for 2024­2025 is 25.4 million tonnes. USDA usually reports cotton volumes in bales, a unit of measurement that means different things in different markets. However, its reports helpfully confirm that, for USDA, one bale is equivalent to 480 kilos, allowing us to make this comparison with Textile Exchange’s numbers. The main point is that the figures for cotton go up and down, but are now a long way behind polyester’s share of the market.

Polyamide is the second­most used synthetic fibre in the global market. Its share in 2023 was 5% of the total, more than Dr Kirkwood’s 2007 figure of 3%. Polyamide volumes in 2023 were 6.7 million tonnes. Production of manmade cellulosic fibres (MMCF), including viscose, acetate, lyocell, modal and cupro, reached a combined total of 7.9 million tonnes in 2023, up by 6.3% compared to the previous year. Their share of the total is 6%. Wool is in the mix too, of course, with 1 million tonnes of fibre coming onto the market last year according to the report, giving wool a market­share of 0.9%.

Across the piece, synthetic fibres of all kinds had a share of 67% of the global market in 2023. Plant fibres, a list that includes hemp, flax, jute, sisal, kapok and others, as well as cotton, accounted for 25% in all. Other animal fibres (silk is the most obvious example) add very little to the figure for wool, reaching a 1% share overall. MMCF made up the rest of the picture.

SIMPLIFYBER

Danish brand Ganni does not shy away from next-gen materials. Here, it teases a design made from Simplifyber’s cellulose slurry.

CREDIT:

Hard to digest

Perhaps the toughest part of the report to read is the section that covers recycling. “After years of growth,” Textile Exchange says, “the market share of recycled fibres decreased in 2023.” Together, all recycled fibres had a 7.7% share of the market last year; the figure for the year before was 7.9%. The difference is small, but the direction of travel is a cause for concern, especially for some parts of the recycled fibre supply chain.

Within each category, the percentages of the different fibres that Textile Exchange reports as being recycled are around 12.5% for polyester, 6% for wool, 3% for elastane, 2% for polyamide, 1% for cotton, 0.7% for MMCF, 0.6% for acrylic and 0.3% for polypropylene.

Polyester’s numbers look substantial at 12.5% of the fibre’s total; the non­profit says 7% of all the fibres that came onto the market in 2023 were recycled polyester fibres. However, recycled’s share of total polyester production was higher in 2022 at 13.6%. Almost all of the recycled polyester that came onto the market in 2023 (Textile Exchange says 98% of it) came from plastic

the production volume of fibres made from virgin fossil­based resources increased by almost 12%.

Cotton choices

If, at 1%, cotton has a low figure for recycled fibres, there are other ways for apparel brands sourcing cotton to present their choices as ‘more sustainable’. There are programmes that farmers in all cotton­growing regions can join. As we saw in the report on cotton that campaign group Earthsight published in April this year, joining a programme is not, in itself, enough to make sustainability claims convincing.

According to the new Materials Market Report, 8% of all the cotton grown in season 2022­2023 came from the Better Cotton programme, with 11% coming from its Brazilian equivalent, ABR. Other examples include Australia’s myBMP programme, which accounted for around 2% of global cotton production that season, and Cotton Made in Africa, which also had 2%. Textile Exchange does not give a figure for organic cotton, but lists several organic labels among nine “other

Garments from Ternua’s spring-summer 2025 trekking collection. The brand has opted for 100% polyester garments in many cases to make its products more recyclable.

CREDIT: TERNUA

bottles. Between 2022 and 2023,

Global fibre market

Total: 123 million tonnes (2023)

cotton programmes” that, together, had a share of 7% of the total. Across the piece, this collective of sustainable cotton initiatives contributed 29% of the complete crop in 2022­2023.

Too few new fibres from recycled textiles

To return to recycling, there is a further layer of concern. In 2023, according to the new report, fibres from recycled pre­ or post­consumer textiles constituted less than 1% of the global market, which means less than 1.25 million tonnes. This figure is for all fibres. There were 8.9 million tonnes of recycled polyester, but, as mentioned above, Textile Exchange estimates that only 2% of this, which is around 175,000 tonnes, came from textile­to­textile recycling. Ocean­bound and ocean­found plastics have generated good publicity, but in 2023, these sources provided only around 0.01% of all recycled polyester, 890 tonnes. Compared to estimates that campaign group the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has formulated, showing that, by 2040, there could be 29 million tonnes of plastic entering the oceans of the world each year, 890 tonnes is, to state the obvious, a drop in the ocean.

The 2024 Materials Market Report makes valid points about how long it is taking to build systems for polyester textile­to­textile recycling. It explains: “The proliferation of textiles made from fibre blends poses significant challenges when it comes to recycling post­consumer textile waste. This is because of the labour­intensive separation process for different fibre types and the different conditions required for chemical and mechanical recycling.” On a hopeful note, it adds that there are some innovative start­ups working on solutions to make high­value fibre blend recycling possible. (See article in this issue of WSA about the work of the CETIA research centre in France for a good example of this.) There are also indications of brands increasingly favouring monomaterial fabrics to make their garments more recyclable. Perhaps this augurs well for an increase in textile­to­textile recycling of polyester apparel in the years ahead.

Recycled fibres

Total: 7.7% (% of each fibre category)

SOURCE: TEXTILE EXCHANGE, 2024 MATERIALS MARKET REPORT

Twenty years later

However, the report also makes the point that if the price of virgin fossil­based synthetics stays low, these fibres will remain popular among sourcing professionals. This is as true today as it was when Patagonia launched the Common Threads Recycling Programme almost 20 years ago. It was in 2005 that the outdoor brand, in partnership with fibre group Teijin, began asking customers to send back their worn baselayer garments for transformation into recycled fibres and then into new clothing. The partners’ calculations at the time put the savings on offer at a 76% reduction in energy and a 71% reduction in carbon emissions compared to using virgin fibres. They must, surely, have imagined that, nearly two decades later, textile­to­textile recycling’s share of the global fibre market would have nudged above 1%.

Far too few used clothes are being turned into raw material for new garments and are instead “haunting the planet”, according to The Woolmark Company.

CREDIT: THE WOOLMARK COMPANY

“ We have the technology, the know­how and the supply chain to help and we want to collaborate on sustainability. ”

VINCENT DJEN

Changes in China

The director of apparel manufacturing group CKG says China is now an exciting market for international and domestic sports clothing brands and, increasingly, for apparel recycling.

CKG is celebrating its fiftieth birthday in 2025. What was the company like 50 years ago?

My parents started the company in Hong Kong in 1975. The garment industry then was like a cottage industry, with lots of small manufacturers doing different parts of the work. My mum and dad made padded and puffer jackets, which has always been our specialism, but sometimes the orders would be just to sew in the lining and then pass the pieces on for others to put it all together. Some factories would make the complete garment, but back then, in the 1970s, most did not. Fabrics were mostly imported from Japan. It was hard work and Hong Kong wasn’t rich back then and everybody had to work really hard, but the skill levels and workmanship were amazing. My dad still talks about that, about how some of the workers were so skilful that the machines could not keep up with them. There is a lot of talk now about the negative aspects of the industry but I can tell you that this industry, whether through fabrics or garments, really helped lift the living standards of a lot of the families around us. We are still in contact with some of the workers from that time. People developed their skills and maybe became a factory floor­manager in Hong Kong. Then, maybe in the 1980s, some of them began to come to mainland China to teach their skills to workers here and watched while some of those workers, in turn, became line managers and floor managers before returning to their home towns and opening their own factories there. This industry has created wealth and has created whole new communities.

In what ways is CKG different now?

At first, it was just my mum and dad and they had people working with them, but not for them. They took some classes and learned a lot about the industry from other workers and other companies, and also from their own mistakes. Some things have not really changed. We still have our headquarters in Hong Kong and still try to offer great service to customers and great communications so that, if something happens on the production line, our customers know we will

DIALOGUE

Vincent Djen, director of Cheng Kung Garments (CKG)

be open and try to fix it. We run good factories and make good products. But the company has grown and we have two factories in total, one in Shanghai and one we have just opened in Anhui province. Now we employ around 30 people in the office and, including the people in all the factories, between 150 and 200 in total.

When did CKG begin to emphasise its commitment to sustainability? How successful has the company been in making this commitment something positive for the business in terms of results and commercial achievement?

The industry began to change in the late 1990s or early 2000s. That was when the industry here began to think about environmental impact, workers’ rights and important things like that. Our customers taught us a lot. Clients encouraged us to move to waterless dyeing, asking us if we were open to new things. We saw it as a fun trend and decided just to go with it. We have always been interested in new things. My parents have a bit of an engineering background; I do too. When I was little, I used to like taking things like phones, cameras and radios apart to see what they looked like inside. Part of our business now is in recycling clothes and I see this in the same way, taking things apart. It’s fun for me. There is a commercial opportunity there. It is an opportunity that is growing, not very fast and I wish it was growing faster, but it is growing and we are on the right track. I like the combination of making clothes and recycling them. I would say the idea of recycling clothes has opened up my mind. It’s a different angle and it is helping me understand the industry more.

Many people in major companies believe there are too many certification programmes and that it costs too much time, effort and money to keep up with them. You said recently that the right certifications can drive growth. What are the right certifications? How can they drive growth? It is a big cost but when you work with certain brands, you need certification or you cannot

CKG director, Vincent Djen, says the textile industry has helped raise the living standards of many families in China.

CREDIT: WTP

work with them. This means certification can open doors. We need to work with the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) because we make and recycle outdoor garments and work with a lot of synthetic materials, including recycled polyester. It brings in orders. We are also working with the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) because we also use wool in some of the coats we make. So, yes, there are all these different standards but I think it is just a question of identifying the ones you need the most for your core products. It’s hard to do everything. We work with very little organic cotton so we don’t have GOTS certification, for example.

How important is it for China to become a strong contributor to sustainability efforts in the global textile and apparel industry?

It is very important because China has a huge manufacturing base and our domestic apparel market is now at between 60% and 70% of the US market in terms of annual sales revenues. We are a huge market, we have the technology, the know­how and the supply chain to help, and we always like to collaborate on sustainability. People here, especially older generations, have a long tradition of saving and reusing things and I think this will help recycled fibres become popular, although natural materials are very popular here too. The desire not to let things go to waste is still very strong and people are now coming up with new business ideas based on this. You can already see that local brands are becoming interested in textile recycling and in low­carbon materials and are embracing this trend. This is a big change. Chinese brands are now publishing their own environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports and are embracing this. This is good because, of course, we have a textile waste problem too and we need to resolve it. That’s why this is now part of what we do at CKG. We want textile waste to become the feedstock for new products.

When did participation in sports and outdoor activities become popular in China? What drove this change?

Chinese people have always liked exercise. Even ten or 20 years ago people were jogging and there were gyms, even in smaller cities. It has always been there. Since covid­19, though, interest in the outdoors has really boomed. The trend we have seen elsewhere of people choosing to spend on experiences rather than just buying physical things has happened here too and outdoor trips, and activities such as camping, fishing and hiking have become popular, and brands in China are responding to this trend.

You said earlier this year that many Chinese people like sports clothing so much they have started to wear it for business activities too? What brought this cultural change and what difference is it making to CKG?

People like comfort. More brands here are starting to make products with quick­dry functionality or more breathability, offering garments that are comfortable to wear in hot weather. The technology is available and brands have identified this as a way for them to have differentiation and are now offering clothes for outdoor activities that look great in any setting. This applies to local brands and international brands that are popular in China. It’s common now to see people in Shanghai wearing soft­shell jackets to work, or to see women wearing yoga pants in the street. It’s part of this global trend of going casual and it is growing quickly here. Entrepreneurs are wearing athletic shoes to important business meetings. It’s cool to do this; it shows sophistication and gives you a new cachet. The new luxury brands are Descente and Arc’teryx and this is at least partly for fashion reasons. The difference this is making to us is that it is creating more demand. We are making garments with more hang­tags to help communicate all the different functionality.

What are the factors that have made some outdoor brands so popular among Chinese consumers? What are the most important things that you believe brands from North America and Europe should keep in mind when they bring their collections to China?

They should start with their best products. That should be the core. International brands can test the market because they can see if their products are popular with Chinese visitors to their stores overseas, or among Chinese people living there. If those customers like a product, it will also be popular in China. That happened with Everlane. That brand wasn’t even here, but it was popular because people bought it when they went abroad. If any brand sees this happening, it will be a signal that they may have a market in China and they should find a good local partner and come and see.

From humble beginnings making puffer jackets in Hong Kong, CKG has now grown into a group with several garment factories in China and around 200 employees.

CREDIT: CKG

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