Using recycled materials enables us to decouple from virgin resources and we see recycling as an essential element to reach our sustainability ambitions. Here we focus on polyester, cotton and wool.
As our second most important fibre in terms of volume, and due to the way its produced, polyester is particularly relevant when it comes to recycling.
Most recycled polyester is based on the recycling of PET plastic bottles, the plastic most commonly used in single use drink bottles. But we’re actively looking for alternatives and are tracking and investing in innovation focused on textile-to-textile recycling of post-consumer polyester garments, as this could be a breakthrough for the fashion industry.
This means that we’re continuously evaluating, testing and adopting innovative solutions within textile recycling, while our brands are working to increase their sourcing of recycled fibres.
To support the development of alternatives to polyester, we also joined Fashion for Good’s Full Circle Textiles Project for polyester. The project aims to scale promising chemical recycling options for polyester, as well as their Renewable Carbon Textiles Project, which prioritises PHA polymer fibres.
Our Innovation Lab joined the innovative ReSuit project – led by Danish Technological Institute. With ReSuit, we are working with various stakeholders to help establish a textile industry in Denmark that can facilitate the recycling of all textile waste.
Invest FWD has invested in Ambercycle, an American company specialising in polyester recycling. They have developed a pioneering process for used polyester textiles that separates and purifies post-consumer textile waste at the molecular level to produce regenerated materials that can be crafted into new garments.