Interloop to Increase Capacity, Efficiency and Sustainability with New Apparel Park Complex
Interloop’s $300 million plan to scale up both depth and breadth is taking shape.
In 2021, the wholly integrated Pakistan manufacturer debuted its Vision 2025 goal: to become a full family clothing partner of choice, led by a unified multi-category strategy. Today, with 30,000-plus employees worldwide across eight manufacturing facilities in South Asia and sales and sourcing organizations in the U.S., Netherlands, China and Japan, Interloop’s Vision 2025 is well underway. The $300-million undertaking to expand its production capacity and capture growing responsible apparel demand includes a new vertical knitwear apparel plant, a new activewear factory, a fifth and sixth hosiery plant—the fifth is already operational and LEED Gold certified—a denim fabric mill and more.
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For convenience and sustainable economies of scale, Interloop debuted its Interloop Apparel Park, the company’s “most high-tech” and “resource-efficient” complex thus far, enhancing its capacity and scope. It supports vertically integrated operations and combines Interloop’s multi-category manufacturing—all under one complex.
Located in Faisalabad, Pakistan, the park spans 232 acres and has been designed to house knitwear, denim, activewear and hosiery plants, with an infrastructure development cost of $50 million. Its widespread construction will be completed gradually with major production facilities operational by 2025; however, multiple facilities have already begun operations, including its fifth hosiery plant, biomass boiler house, energy grid, daycare center, technical training center and more.
Estimated cost of the park when fully completed is $500 million, with over $300 million in investments by 2025. The apparel park offers major production capacities per category—a fully vertical knitwear plant will manufacture 25 million pieces annually in first phase; two additional hosiery plants will grow Interloop’s sock capacity to a billion pairs; a seamless plant can produce 12 million pieces; and a denim fabric mill will roll out 14 million meters annually.
Additionally, Interloop’s LEED-designed infrastructure would mean low energy requirement, better fresh air circulation and improved water consumption throughout the plants. The park also includes a biodiversity park which will promote local species of trees and use treated domestic water to create wetlands whilst providing irrigation water for the park, according to Navid Fazil, CEO of Interloop.
“Interloop Apparel Park and its various features and facilities are expected to provide Interloop with responsible and sustainable manufacturing facilities; increased production capacity, improved operational efficiency, sustainability benefits—Including our Waste Water Treatment Plant ETP which has a 20 percent water recycling capacity and plans to increase to 60 percent and our Solar Park which will take Interloop’s total solar capacity to 25 MW—skilled workforce development, innovation opportunities, quality assurance, employee well-being and positive economic impacts,” said Fazil. “These takeaways will help Interloop strengthen its market position, achieve business growth, and contribute to a sustainable and inclusive future.”
Energy challenge
While Interloop has seen success with its Apparel Park so far, success did not come easy. Building the entire infrastructure from the ground up was difficult, with the biggest challenge being availability of energy, including steam and electricity.
“As a self-reliant company, we augmented electric power generation from our power station at Interloop Industrial Park (also located in Faisalabad). This was an extensive exercise and a huge investment on our part,” said Fazil. “We installed a power grid at the Apparel Park and connected it to Interloop Industrial Park for uninterrupted power. We also added biomass boilers for thermal (steam) energy for the whole park to make our operations more sustainable.”
Looking toward the future
While Interloop is currently working toward accomplishing its current goals, the apparel park already has plans to expand in-house capacity for filament yarn dyeing and elastomeric yarns, further supporting all product categories and enhancing Interloop’s speed to market.
“Every day we stride toward better responsibility, setting new goals, leveraging innovative technologies and driving continuous process improvement,” said Fazil. “As responsible stewards of the resources we use, we forge ahead, envisioning a future where actions create a positive impact that resonates far and wide.”
Additionally, Interloop recently announced its Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) validation on the company’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. According to the team, this milestone is a major move for Interloop on its mission to lighten its impact as it moves toward decarbonization.
“We have significantly ramped up our investment in clean energy and continuous process improvement to reach our targets,” said Fazil. “With rigorous emissions tracking and transparent reporting, we are determined to confront challenges head-on and make substantial progress along the way.”
Learn more about Interloop and its Interloop Apparel Park here.
