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Renewcell, the Swedish textile-to-textile recycler, welcomes 35 new members to the CIRCULOSE Supplier Network (CSN), now totaling 151 spinners, weavers, textile mills, garment manufacturers, and more. The newest cohort consists of suppliers with vertical operations (10), yarn spinners (16), garment manufacturers (4) as well as denim and home textile mills. First launched in July 2023 with 47 textile producers, the expansion to 151 in under one year underlines the spirit of collaboration and the desire to close the loop on clothing production.

Srimal Wickremasinghe, Managing Director, Brushes & Needlescomments, “Brushes & Needles from Sri Lanka and TexComs from Indonesia have been diligently working on developing an innovative and sustainable textile solution cooperating with CIRCULOSE technology that we believe will revolutionize the industry. In today's rapidly changing world, the demand for eco-friendly and sustainable products is higher than ever before.” Salil Dhillon, Director, TexComs Worldwide continues, "Consumers are increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of their purchases and are seeking out products that align with their values. Recognizing this shift in consumer behavior, we have invested significant time and resources into creating textile products with CIRCULOSE® that not only meet the highest standards of quality and performance but also prioritize sustainability throughout their entire lifecycle.”

Tricia Carey, Chief Commercial Officer at Renewcell, comments on the new partners, "Our goal was to build up key geographical regions that could service the varied requirements of our current and future brand partners. Being able to offer vertical or location-specific end-to-end manufacturing is significant for our continuous development.”

As the only industrial-scale producer of pulp made from 100% recycled textiles, Renewcell’s strategy is to replace virgin manmade cellulosic fibers (MMCF) with fibers made with CIRCULOSE as well as offer a replacement for cotton, and to enhance the properties of mechanically recycled cotton. With Turkey’s large cotton textile market and growing cotton recycling industry, expanding mill partnerships in this country was a prime focus.

“Sustainability finds life deep within our fabric, like the branches of a tree,” states Özge Arpaz, Sales & Marketing Manager of Palmiye, based in Turkey. “We are open to every new project that has benefits for innovation, sustainability, and nature, and we are proud to make all our investments in this direction. Fibers made with CIRCULOSE are the most important topic in the future world where resources are scarce.”

The mills and producers in the CIRCULOSE Supplier Network are the building blocks of a circular system. As Karla Magruder, Founder and President of the non-profit Accelerating Circularity, explains, “At Accelerating Circularity, we're convinced that building circular systems is essential to make the transition to circularity. Every step in the system needs to do its part.  To scale textile-to-textile recycling the market needs systems in place and commercial.  Renewcell's CIRCULOSE Supplier Network is the first example of putting together all the pieces through commercial entities. The ability to find and purchase yarns, knits and/or wovens at a variety of suppliers in a wide variety of geographic regions makes it possible for the next step, brands to do their part in building circular systems.”

With the growth of the CIRCULOSE Supplier Network to 151 members and the adoption of CIRCULOSE throughout the value chain, economies of scale can be achieved. Fibers, yarns, and fabrics made with CIRCULOSE are available now for fashion and home brands, both large and small.

The list of the newest CIRCULOSE Supplier Network members is below:

Bangladesh: Noman Terry Towels Mills

China: Guotai International Group, HUBO, Mozartex, Saintyear Textile, Sinotex Eco, Fibertec

India: Maral Overseas, TAGC India, Usha Yarns, V.Thangavel and Sons, VP Tex

Indonesia: TexComs

Portugal: ATB

Sri Lanka: Brushes & Needles

Taiwan: Chi Her Industrial, HerMin Textile, Hua Mao Nano Tech

Turkey: Aba Tekstil, Can Tekstil, Ereks Konfeksiyon, Eroglu, Karsu, Motif Tekstil, Orimpex Tekstil, Ozen Mensucat, Pakipek Tekstil, Palmiye, Realteks, Secen Tekstil, Süzer Tekstil, Yilmazipek

Vietnam: Tai Nan Textile, Tai Nan Spinning, TCE Vina Denim

The Swedish pulp producer Renewcell has just opened the world's first commercial-scale, textile-to-textile chemical recycling pulp mill, after spending 10 years developing the technology.

While mechanical textiles-to-textiles recycling, which involves the manual shredding of clothes and pulling them apart into their fibres, has existed for centuries, Renewcell is the first commercial mill to use chemical recycling, allowing it to increase quality and scale production. With ambitions to recycle the equivalent of more than 1.4 billion T-shirts every year by 2030, the new plant marks the beginning of a significant shift in the fashion industry's ability to recycle used clothing at scale.

"The linear model of fashion consumption is not sustainable," says Renewcell chief executive Patrik Lundström. "We can't deplete Earth's natural resources by pumping oil to make polyester, cut down trees to make viscose or grow cotton, and then use these fibres just once in a linear value chain ending in oceans, landfills or incinerators. We need to make fashion circular." This means limiting fashion waste and pollution while also keeping garments in use and reuse for as long as possible by developing collection schemes or technologies to turn textiles into new raw materials.

Each year, more than 100 billion items of clothing are produced globally, according to some estimates, with 65% of these ending up in landfill within 12 months. Landfill sites release equal parts carbon dioxide and methane – the latter greenhouse gas being 28 times more potent than the former over a 100-year period. The fashion industry is estimated to be responsible for 8-10% of global carbon emissions, according to the UN.

Just 1% of recycled clothes are turned back into new garments. While charity shops, textiles banks and retailer "take-back" schemes help to keep those donated clothes in wearable condition in circulation, the capabilities of recycling clothes at end-of-life are currently limited. Many high street stores with take-back schemes, including Levi Strauss and H&M, operate a three-pronged system: resell (for example, to charity shops), re-use (convert into other products, such as cleaning cloths or mops) or recycle (into carpet underlay, insulation material or mattress filling – clothing is not listed as an option).

Much of the technical difficulty in recycling worn-out clothes back into new clothing comes down to their composition. The majority of clothes in our wardrobes are made from a blend of textiles, with polyester the most widely produced fibre, accounting for a 54% share of  total global fibre production, according to the global non-profit Textile Exchange. Cotton is second, with a market share of approximately 22%. The reason for polyester's prevalence is the low cost of fossil-based synthetic fibres, making them a popular choice for fast fashion brands, which prioritise price above all else – polyester costs half as much per kg as cotton. While the plastics industry has been able to break down pure polyester (PET) for decades, the blended nature of textiles has made it challenging to recycle one fibre, without degrading the other. (Read more about why clothes are so hard to recycle.)

Nouryon and Renewcell partnered on sustainable textile recycling

Nouryon is partner of Dutch football team Ajax. Source: http://www.nouryon.com Nouryon has signed an agreement with Renewcell to provide specialty chemicals and engineering solutions for its new textile recycling plant in Sundsvall, Sweden. The facility will recycle textile waste, including items such as worn-out jeans and production scraps, to manufacture 60,000 metric tons of Circulose®…