EU Cotton Project outlines first-half successes
The three-year EU Cotton Project, which counts Adidas and H&M as its partners, says it has successfully completed the first half of its programme, demonstrating implementation of the entire value chain.
Consortium leader Infinited Fiber Company (IFC) says it is now producing its Infinna recycled fibre from waste materials. Adidas and H&M will launch new products using the fibre in their autumn/winter 2022 collections. They will be the first to be produced through a collaborative consortium dedicated to demonstrating the potential of a circular model for commercial garment production, testing a new, innovative, and more sustainable way of working.
Scheduled across a three-year timeline, the consortium set out to collect and sort end-of-life textiles, which using pioneering Infinited Fiber technology could be regenerated into a new man-made cellulosic fibre called Infinna, which looks and feels just like virgin cotton.
The midway point sees the consortium celebrate the successful implementation of the entire value chain from textile sorting to the production of garment samples. The textiles sorting and mechanical processing phase of the project has been completed by Frankenhuis, which analysed fabric composition of sorted textiles and explored pre-processing techniques to identify the correct feedstock for the Infinited Fiber Company process. These initial steps were supported by REvolve Waste, whose ongoing work to map the location and content of textiles waste across Europe will continue through-out the project.
The initial batches of Infinna were processed by manufacturers Kipas, Inovafil and Tekstina to test and produce high-value yarns and fabric in order to run quality checks and test dyeability, which has yielded highly positive results. Adidas and H&M successfully tested and developed styles made with the unique fabric and are now preparing for the commercial production run.
With the Project now entering its second phase, the consortium aims to focus on data collection and analysis in order to highlight relevant insights for the industry, which will be disseminated by Fashion for Good. RISE will also develop the Life Cycle Assessment, identifying progress opportunities to further develop the concept.
