How Sanko Group Plans to Turn Recycling Into a Business
Responsible production doesn’t happen overnight. Sanko Group-owned Isko has been on a decade-long journey to pivot to better practices starting with minimizing its use of chemicals, water and virgin raw materials.
These efforts materialize in the Turkish mill’s Spring/Summer 2025 collection made entirely of Ctrl+Z products. Made with approximately 80 percent recycled ingredients, the fabrics include recycled polyester, recycled cotton, regenerated cellulose fibers as well as Tencel, Naia, modal, cashmere, linen and hemp.
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The pressure to make bold changes has never been greater, however.
“Our industry either moves into circularity, moves into recycling, moves into a better sustainable approach, or [it is going to] die as an industry,” said Marco Lucietti, director of strategic projects at Sanko Holding Isko Division, at Bluezone in Munich last month.
Some of the drivers behind this doomsday mindset are in the industry’s control; others are not. Companies are working against rising costs for raw materials, global geopolitical situations and five different directives of the European Union, that are “somehow forcing the value chain to make different decisions,” Lucietti said. Additionally, the next generation of consumers is growing up with a deep appreciation for environmentally conscious products.
“So, either we think ahead, or we are going to not survive in the business,” he said. “Make decisions today to make profits tomorrow.”
With Re&Up, Sanko Group aims to scale recycling for profit by applying the lessons learned to make Isko fabrics more circular to other companies.
Launched last May, Lucietti described the sister company as a “hub for recycling of any kind of materials and textile.” The company, he added, provides direct solutions for looming legislation that will affect waste management and impact eco design requirements.
Through six steps, the venture provides customers a closed-loop ecosystem for their end-of-life textile waste. Re&Up collects waste from various sources like production waste, pre-consumer waste post-consumer waste, sorts it according to their compositions and prepares it for mechanical or chemical recycling. A part of the processed waste is repurposed by a variety of manufacturing industries. The other part becomes recycled cotton, recycled polyester chips and yarns for new products.
The goal is to recycle 1 million tons of textile waste through the Re&Up platform by 2030.
Re&Up has the technology to get there, but Lucietti said it needs to be an industry collaboration. Brands must recognize the premium of using a fabric made with recycled content, he said. “Brands need to stop pushing back the profits of the supply chain—it’s a must,” he said.
“We are producing in Europe around 8 million tons of waste every year. Out of that only 10 percent is recycled. Think about the business possibility of recycling the other 7 million tons,” he said.
