Textiles and apparel sustainability update, March 2020
Environmental sustainability is of growing importance within the global fibre, textile and apparel industry, and pressures to improve their sustainability credentials have prompted several companies to develop innovative new products and adapt their business strategies. This report provides information on the latest product developments and business developments in relation to environmental sustainability with a particular focus on: business news; carpets; denim; fabrics; fibrefill; fibres; insulation materials; laminates; recycling; standards; and traceability. Furthermore, the report includes information and insight into the following innovative brands, companies and other organisations: Advansa, Advance Denim, Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), Circular Polymers, Cone Denim, Covestro, DuPont Biomaterials, Elevate Textiles, Fashion for Good, H&M Group, IKEA Range & Supply, Kontoor Brands, Lenzing Group (Lenzing), Levi Strauss & Co, Masland Contract, National Bed Federation (NBF), Nike, Parley for the Oceans, PrimaLoft, PVH, Schoeller Textil, Sympatex Technologies (Sympatex), Tarkett, The Microfibre Consortium (TMC), Toray, Uniqlo and Zero Waste Scotland.
SUMMARY
BUSINESS NEWS
32 industry-leading companies have signed an agreement in a bid to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry
Elevate Textiles has announced new sustainability targets which have been adopted by its portfolio brands
Elevate Textiles has expanded its participation in the activities of the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme
Fashion for Good has launched a pilot project which will work to improve the environmental sustainability of polybags and reduce the widespread use of virgin polybags in the fashion industry
Kontoor Brands has published a new company policy relating to the use of raw materials which are sourced from forests
Lenzing Group (Lenzing) has announced that it will invest Euro40 mn in improving the environmental sustainability of its production operations
Levi Strauss & Co has launched an ambitious water conservation strategy
Levi Strauss & Co will employ the Eco Passport by Oeko-Tex certification scheme in its supply chain
Nike has partnered with Ocean Conservancy to launch the Arctic Shipping Corporate Pledge
PrimaLoft has developed an insulation manufacturing technique which will help it to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
PVH has announced new greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets which have received approval from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)
Three organisations have joined The Microfibre Consortium (TMC) to boost its research efforts and international reach
CARPETS
Masland Contract has launched a collection of carpet tiles called Crafted which contain recycled materials
DENIM
Advance Denim is the first mill in China to launch a denim collection which is dyed using
Archroma’s environmentally sustainable aniline-free Denisol Pure Indigo 30 liq dye
Cone Denim has collaborated with Intrinsic Advanced Materials in the development of a biodegradable denim fabric collection
FABRICS
DuPont Biomaterials and Ecopel have collaborated in the development of a luxury faux fur fabric which will be used by Stella McCartney
DuPont Biomaterials and Lenzing Group (Lenzing) have collaborated in the development of an environmentally sustainable fabric collection
Schoeller Textil has developed a biodegradable fabric collection called Proearth
FIBREFILL
Advansa has developed a new fibrefill product which is derived from recycled waste materials
FIBRES
Covestro has successfully developed performance stretch fibres which are derived partly from carbon dioxide (CO2)
Lenzing Group (Lenzing) has launched a new version of its Tencel Lyocell fibre with
Refibra technology
INSULATION MATERIALS
PrimaLoft and Parley for the Oceans have entered into a partnership to develop insulation materials which incorporate fibres derived from ocean waste
LAMINATES
Sympatex Technologies (Sympatex) has expanded its range of performance laminates which can be fully recycled at the ends of their useful lives
RECYCLING
Eastman has entered into a partnership with Circular Polymers and Carpet America Recovery
Effort (CARE) to establish a supply chain for recycling materials from post-consumer carpet
H&M Group and IKEA Range & Supply have collaborated in conducting a study to investigate the chemical content of recyclable textiles
Tarkett has developed a technology which is able to recover and recycle materials contained within carpet tiles
Uniqlo will collaborate with Toray to incorporate recycled materials in its apparel products
Zero Waste Scotland and the National Bed Federation (NBF) will collaborate on a research project to increase mattress recycling
STANDARDS
The Microfibre Consortium (TMC) has released details of a microfibre shedding test methodology
TRACEABILITY
Lenzing Group (Lenzing) has presented the results of its first pilot project which explored the use of blockchain technology
BUSINESS NEWS
32 industry-leading companies have signed an agreement in a bid to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry
Elevate Textiles has announced new sustainability targets which have been adopted by its portfolio brands
Elevate Textiles has expanded its participation in the activities of the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme
Fashion for Good has launched a pilot project which will work to improve the environmental sustainability of polybags and reduce the widespread use of virgin polybags in the fashion industry
Kontoor Brands has published a new company policy relating to the use of raw materials which are sourced from forests
Lenzing Group (Lenzing) has announced that it will invest Euro40 mn in improving the environmental sustainability of its production operations
Levi Strauss & Co has launched an ambitious water conservation strategy
Levi Strauss & Co will employ the Eco Passport by Oeko-Tex certification scheme in its supply chain
Nike has partnered with Ocean Conservancy to launch the Arctic Shipping Corporate Pledge
PrimaLoft has developed an insulation manufacturing technique which will help it to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
PVH has announced new greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets which have received approval from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)
Three organisations have joined The Microfibre Consortium (TMC) to boost its research efforts and international reach
CARPETS
Masland Contract has launched a collection of carpet tiles called Crafted which contain recycled materials
DENIM
Advance Denim is the first mill in China to launch a denim collection which is dyed using
Archroma’s environmentally sustainable aniline-free Denisol Pure Indigo 30 liq dye
Cone Denim has collaborated with Intrinsic Advanced Materials in the development of a biodegradable denim fabric collection
FABRICS
DuPont Biomaterials and Ecopel have collaborated in the development of a luxury faux fur fabric which will be used by Stella McCartney
DuPont Biomaterials and Lenzing Group (Lenzing) have collaborated in the development of an environmentally sustainable fabric collection
Schoeller Textil has developed a biodegradable fabric collection called Proearth
FIBREFILL
Advansa has developed a new fibrefill product which is derived from recycled waste materials
FIBRES
Covestro has successfully developed performance stretch fibres which are derived partly from carbon dioxide (CO2)
Lenzing Group (Lenzing) has launched a new version of its Tencel Lyocell fibre with
Refibra technology
INSULATION MATERIALS
PrimaLoft and Parley for the Oceans have entered into a partnership to develop insulation materials which incorporate fibres derived from ocean waste
LAMINATES
Sympatex Technologies (Sympatex) has expanded its range of performance laminates which can be fully recycled at the ends of their useful lives
RECYCLING
Eastman has entered into a partnership with Circular Polymers and Carpet America Recovery
Effort (CARE) to establish a supply chain for recycling materials from post-consumer carpet
H&M Group and IKEA Range & Supply have collaborated in conducting a study to investigate the chemical content of recyclable textiles
Tarkett has developed a technology which is able to recover and recycle materials contained within carpet tiles
Uniqlo will collaborate with Toray to incorporate recycled materials in its apparel products
Zero Waste Scotland and the National Bed Federation (NBF) will collaborate on a research project to increase mattress recycling
STANDARDS
The Microfibre Consortium (TMC) has released details of a microfibre shedding test methodology
TRACEABILITY
Lenzing Group (Lenzing) has presented the results of its first pilot project which explored the use of blockchain technology
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Carpet tiles from the Crafted collection
Figure 2: Prototype coat made using Koba faux fur fabric
Figure 3: Fabrics developed by DuPont Biomaterials and Lenzing Group
Figure 4: Fabric from the Proearth collection
Figure 1: Carpet tiles from the Crafted collection
Figure 2: Prototype coat made using Koba faux fur fabric
Figure 3: Fabrics developed by DuPont Biomaterials and Lenzing Group
Figure 4: Fabric from the Proearth collection
