Renewcell’s Circulose Supplier Network Grows to 116
Swedish textile recycler Renewcell is rapidly broadening its community of yarn and textile partners across the globe, including several denim mills.
After launching its Circulose Supplier Network in July, the group this week announced that it has grown its membership from 47 to 116 yarn spinners, knitters, mills and other textile supply chain stakeholders across 15 countries, adding diversity and global reach.
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New members hail from Vietnam, Taiwan and the Czech Republic, among other nations, adding a variety of qualities made from Circulose, the recycled and recyclable cellulosic pulp. The network has also onboarded home textile suppliers for the first time, including India-based Sharadha Terry Products and Kadri Mills, as well as China’s Yang Tsu. According to Renewcell, these strategic additions open up Circulose to more categories within the textile sector.
“With a more diverse network across the textile supply chain, fashion brands now have a broader range of sustainable options to incorporate Circulose into their designs,” CEO Patrik Lundström said, noting that the network will play a “pivotal role in scaling up the availability of yarns and fabrics” made with the input. The company recently entered into a strategic partnership with Spinnova to bring a cotton-Circulose blended yarn to market next year.
Pakistan-based denim manufacturer Indigo Textile will use Circulose as a part of its environmental strategy, general manager Shakaib Nazim said, calling the mill “a hub of innovation for sustainable denim.”
“Our Circulose denim fabric range is the perfect fit for style and sustainability,” he added. “Our next step towards sustainability growth is to convert our core line fabrics with Circulose fiber.” Other Pakistan suppliers that joined the Circulose Supplier Network include denim mills like Diamond Denim, US Denim, Kassim Denim, Siddiqsons, Azgard 9 and Artistic Denim Mills and woven fabric subsidiary Artmill, along with fabric producers Al Karam and Crescent Textile Mills.
Turkish textile exporter Ekoten Fabrics has also joined the network to increase its use of circular raw materials. “We believe that the circularity of the fashion industry will be achieved through timeless designs and sustainable material selection,” product design and development manager Hatice Ates said. “In this direction, we attach great importance to the use of cellulosic raw materials from secondary raw materials with low environmental impact.”
Turkish textile firms to recently join the Circulose Supplier Network include denim mill DNM and fabric producers Artesa, Aster, Barutcu Tekstil, Elyaf Tekstil, Kara Fiber and Pameks.
Fashion for Good head of Asia expansion Priyanka Khanna said Renewcell’s efforts to grow the organization support the growth of global textile circularity. “This growth is not only significant in driving the adoption of textile-to-textile recycled output but also in providing reach and accessibility to suppliers who are the first customers of these materials,” she added.
“By expanding across industry verticals and manufacturing regions, Renewcell is educating and enabling suppliers to easily access and test the output, which they can then develop and offer to their customers, the brands,” Khanna said. Renewcell has been a member of Fashion for Good for three years, and has participated in the initiative’s Full Circle Textile Projects.
“We see them as a pioneering force in the textile-to-textile recycling arena, redefining industry standards and driving the transition towards a circular textile industry,” Khanna said.
Forest conservation nonprofit Canopy will support Renewcell as it continues to scale production, founder and environmental executive director Nicole Rycroft said, noting that making Circulose “more accessible for brands and retailers” is an “exciting” prospect.
“Renewcell is showing that take-make-waste production is a relic of the past as the market moves to low-carbon Next Gen alternatives,” she added.
The full list of new network members, available on Renewcell’s website, includes textile businesses from China, India, the Czech Republic, Italy, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam.
