The Peaks and Pitfalls of the Denim Deal

Kate Nishimura
·7 min read

Fall 2020 saw the advent of the Dutch C-233 Green Deal on Circular Denim, otherwise known as the Denim Deal. The revolutionary pact between mills, manufacturers, global brands and the city of Amsterdam aimed to address the sector’s environmental ills through a renewed focus on recycled content.

Three years on, the program concluded at the end of 2023 and participants and organizers are reflecting on its pain points as well as the industry’s progress. Amsterdam has solidified itself as the de facto international hub for players in the denim space, birthing brands like Kings of Indigo, Scotch & Soda and G-Star Raw and playing host to industry events like Kingpins and Denim Days. Emerging during the dark days of the pandemic, the Deal brought city officials, the Amsterdam Economic Board, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Haarlem and the Zaanstad municipalities together with retailers, producers, recyclers and collectors to embark on a mission to make use of fabric waste by incorporating it into new products.

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Signatories committed to the new standard of using at least 5 percent recycled fibers in all denim products, with the goal to produce at least 3 million pairs of jeans with a minimum of 20 percent post-consumer recycled (PCR) content. They also agreed to set and pursue their own higher goals for incorporating PCR cotton into denim garments, developing roadmaps based on collaboration with their peers.

Roosmarie Ruigrok, coordinator for the Denim Deal, said the three-year initiative yielded “even better” results than expected. “The target was a challenge in the start,” she said, “but by working with the complete supply chain, it seemed not that difficult.”

“The biggest challenge was to get brands on board, as it is a new approach,” she added. By Jan. 1 of this year, 49 signatories, including eight brands and retailers, had pledged their participation, from PVH Europe to Scotch & Soda, Kings of Indigo, Calik Denim, Ereks, Recover, Bossa, Isko and Lenzing.

During 2022, 39 percent of the denim products brought to the Dutch market for sale by signatories of the Denim Deal contained at least 5 percent PCR content, totaling 691,950 pieces—a 13 percent improvement over the year prior, and a 31 percent increase from 2020. Globally, 53 percent of garments made and sold by signatories complied with the 5 percent standard last year, up from just 12 percent three years ago.

Monitoring for jeans produced during the three years also showed forward movement; while just 8 percent of jeans brought to the Dutch market in 2020 contained a minimum of 20 percent PCR content, that number grew to 41 percent by 2022. The global market saw 53 percent of jeans produced by signatories hit a minimum of 20 percent PCR. What’s more, the Denim Deal has “far surpassed” its goal of bringing 3 million pairs of 20-percent-PCR jeans to market, having hit that goal in 2021. The group estimates that 2022 saw the total pairs produced reach more than 5 million.

“A reverse supply chain needs an open mind, courage and willingness not to succeed,” Ruigrok said. Textile take-back and recycling at any scale remains a challenge, and while the Denim Deal saw most brands and retailers set ambitious goals for PCR content at the beginning of the initiative, the experience gave them more perspective on what’s realistic moving forward.

When asked about their goals for 2024 in a survey last year, five of the eight brands said they were shooting for 35 to 100 percent PCR content in their denim offerings. Now, the group said that the highest values targeted are 25 percent to 40 percent PCR content, and “most brands indicated that targets like 20 percent and 25 percent…are already an ambitious challenge.”

“Everyone was helping and trying to do their best—we are very enthusiastic,” Ruigrok added. “It is a very new business model, and it works.” The Denim Deal coordinator said the organization is currently engaged in meetings with other stakeholders “to see how we can evolve this project to a broader network across the globe.” One aspect Ruigrok and peers would like to see addressed is the dumping of unwearable, unsalable textiles in countries around the world, she said.

Last week, Denim Deal named Laura Vicaria the new Denim Deal 2.0 program manager. Building on the initiative’s success and working to improve its weak spots, Vicaria will focus on program development, stakeholder management and strategic planning and execution.

Lessons Learned

Besim Ozek, strategy and business development director for Turkish denim manufacturer Bossa, said he believes the Denim Deal could have had a more pronounced impact if its targets were more refined. A focus on promoting market visibility across all parts of the denim value chain, including brands, garment and fabric producers, garment sortation bodies and global governments, could have garnered more participation. Meanwhile, more research and development are needed in developing quality fibers made from post-consumer textiles.

“Post-consumer denim-to-denim production’s biggest challenge is polyester contamination,” he said. Bossa has sufficient capacity for shredding both pre- and post-consumer waste, as well as producing new fibers. However, “the post-consumer process is more costly,” as feedstock is limited compared to pre-consumer waste.

What’s more, producers like Bossa have a responsibility to manage brands’ expectations, and at this juncture, recycled fibers can’t compare to virgin cotton in quality or style. “There might be some differences in the look of the fabric,” Ozek said. “Brands should be informed about it,” he added, along with “some technological limitations for the weight and color.”

Romain Narcy, a partner with Ereks Blue Matters, said he believes the project would have generated a greater impact if it had had a broader reach. “The objective of the Dutch Denim Deal is to revolutionize the denim industry by promoting sustainability and circularity,” he said. “By uniting various parties in the PCR cotton value chain, we strove toward a more eco-conscious future for denim fashion.”

“As someone who has been involved with circularity initiatives within the denim industry since 2016 through organizations like the Denim Alliance, I can say that our first attempt fell short due to a lack of involvement from major brands,” he said. However, the Turkish manufacturer, which was an early signatory of the Denim Deal, “learned valuable lessons” that it plans to apply moving forward including the importance of collaboration.

“Working groups established under this initiative have facilitated unprecedented cooperation between competing brands on issues such as circular design knowledge-sharing or standardization guidelines for PCR cotton use,” Narcy said. The goals established for the three-year period were also the first of their kind, and he believes the pursuit of those commitments has “sparked change throughout our sector.”

Along with participating in the Denim Deal, Narcy said Ereks has taken “significant steps towards achieving our vision.”

“Our aim was not just limited to disseminating information about Denim Deal but also creating awareness among people through speeches, fairs and university workshops on raw materials, chemicals recycling and future possibilities,” he said.

As the original Deal concludes and looks to the future, Narcy said he hopes more denim stakeholders from all levels of the value chain, and all geographies, will consider getting involved. “One of our biggest suggestions is getting the Turkish Textile Exporter Association signed up,” he said. “Lack of collaboration remains a major challenge as manufacturers often limit their productions based on orders, rather than considering consumer preferences or sustainable practices during product-making processes.”

As a part of its work at “breaking the cycle and bringing more sustainability into the fashion industry’s DNA,” Ereks is joining in on efforts that promote circularity. “We’ve ventured out to new projects aimed at developing post-consumer textile recycling solutions which will help us achieve Circular Company status by 2030,” Narcy said.

“We are immensely proud of what we have achieved thus far through collaboration with like-minded brands and individuals who share our vision for sustainable practices in fashion production,” he added. “We welcome new partnerships as well because together, we can make even greater strides toward creating a better world for ourselves and generations yet unborn.”

“It’s clear how much progress has already been made towards realizing more sustainable practices throughout all levels within this important sector.”