Renewcell and TextileGenesis Ink Deal on Supply Chain Traceability
Swedish textile recycling innovator Renewcell has announced a planned agreement with TextileGenesis to implement full traceability for Renewcell’s biodegradable raw material, Circulose, across the entire textile supply chain.
TextileGenesis technology allows Renewcell to share real-time digital traceability with all Circulose customers and supply chain partners using digital tokens that guarantee a secure chain of custody from scrap to retail. Its “fiber-forwards” traceability captures real-time shipments; its Fibercoins digital tokens eliminate “double counting” of sustainable materials by verifying point of origin.
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According to Patrik Lundstrom, Renewcell CEO, TextileGenesis provides the company with a fully transparent supply chain that will help bring it closer to achieving its goal of circularity in the fashion industry. With a new factory in Sundsvall, Sweden, they may be able to recycle more than the hoped-for 1.4 billion T-shirts per year and be able to attest to the authenticity of all the reprocessed textiles.
Traceability is the key buzzword and a must investment in textiles, and the TextileGenesis deal with Renewcell will move the sustainable fiber industry closer to realizing it, according to Amit Gautum, TextileGenesis founder and CEO.
“Renewcell has engineered a truly circular process to make Circulose,” Gautem said. “TextileGenesis helps Renewcell verify every step of the supply chain and carry that authentic and transparent message all the way to their brand and retail partners.”
Founded in Stockholm in 2012, Renewcell is a patented process for recycling cellulosic textile waste from cotton clothing and production scraps, and turning it into Circulose. It was developed by scientists at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. It was on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Best Inventions 2020.
TextileGenesis is already partnering in traceability initiatives with fiber producers Lenzing AG, Eastman and Birla Cellulose.
Renewcell has multiyear purchasing agreements with three European textile sorters that will ensure a sufficient supply of used clothing for its new facility located in a former paper mill at Ortviken. They are with Soex in Germany, Texaid in Switzerland and Sysave in Sweden. The company also has an agreement with Daiwabo Rayon Company, Japan, a cellulosic fiber producer.
