#Recycling / Circular Economy

2021-07-08

Recover™, Happy Punt and Hansae Form a strategic partnership to achieve circular fashion for all

Three leading companies in the textiles industry, Recover™, Happy Punt, and Hansae, have entered into a multi-year partnership agreement to provide end-to-end solutions for the design, development, and production of sustainably conscious apparel for the fashion industry. The partnership allows retailers and brands to seamlessly integrate sustainable Recover™ recycled cotton fiber into their products, thereby helping to solve one of the world’s biggest environmental issues.

Using innovative technology, the partnership provides a range of services, including 3D design, patterns, tech packs, samples, and production to support brands and retailers at every step in the supply chain. The partnership offers a unique speed to market solution for the production of fully sustainable apparel and leverages the group’s global reach, with offices in Seoul, Barcelona, and New York. In addition, close customer proximity provides in-market technical design services that develop, review and approve all specifications to ensure correct fit and brand enhancing products.The partnership also provides an end-to-end service that combines the advantages of production nearshore and offshore worldwide.

Dedicated leading edge design and development facilities can produce samples in house from concept to finished sample with a quick turnaround time. Notably, as part of a joint sustainability initiative, the partnership also encourages R&D designs to be replaced by 3D designs to reduce the environmental impact of the sampling process.

The three leading companies have a combined experience of over 130 years in each of their respective fields. Each firm’s commitment to bringing the best technology to the product and the market offers a disruptive approach to the traditional apparel design and production process. The partnership is proud to be actively working with leading global brands to deliver sustainable collections to the market by Spring 2022, and more collections are expected to follow.

Recover™ will increase its production to 200,000 metric tons of recycled cotton fiber per year by 2025 to support the current market demand. This recycled cotton volume will save nearly three trillion liters of water each year, equivalent to the drinking water consumed by 3 billion people on an annual basis and allow 500,000 acres of land to be directed away from cotton cultivation to other uses.

The Recover™, Happy Punt, and Hansae strategic partnership provides brands and retailers with an easy plug & play solution to achieve their sustainability initiatives and ensures a quality product for the consumer.

“Production is a product”

From technical textiles and AI-driven robotics to the limitations of textile circularity: Professor Dr Thomas Gries looks back on more than two decades of development at ITA Aachen. In the interview, he explains why production technology remains a decisive success factor, discusses international collaborations and innovation ecosystems, and shares his views on the transformation of production landscapes and the challenges facing an increasingly regulated industry.

“We need to move away from the price trap and return to a value-driven mindset.”

With its new Textile Innovation Center, KARL MAYER is sending a strong signal for innovation, collaboration, and the future of textile applications. In this interview, Karl Josef Mayer discusses new opportunities in warp knitting, the processing of staple fibres, recycling, the changing role of machinery manufacturers, and why the textile industry must once again focus more strongly on the value of textiles. by Oliver Schmidt

“Innovation, resilience and international experience remain the great strengths of the Swiss textile machinery industry”

Geopolitical uncertainty, growing competitive pressure from China, new free trade agreements and the shift towards a circular economy are currently reshaping the global textile industry. In this interview, Cornelia Buchwalder discusses the current mood within the Swiss textile machinery sector, the industry’s distinctive innovative strength, new market opportunities in India and Asia, and the technological trends that could shape the upcoming trade fair cycle leading up to ITMA 2027.

Managed workwear services are providing a blueprint for the circular textile economy

Managed workwear service providers are demonstrating how commercial success and circularity can go hand in hand by extending garment lifespans through repair, laundering, reuse and recycling, according to “Managed workwear services—a circular textile economy ahead of the game”, a new 14‑page report from the global business information company Textiles Intelligence.

Eco-design as the foundation of circular textiles

Based on the results of an extensive European analysis, the Erasmus+ project Skills4Circularity is currently developing three practice-based training modules covering recycling technologies, eco-design for the circular economy and sustainable manufacturing. This was preceded by a comprehensive company survey and a joint analysis conducted by the project partners under the leadership of IVGT. The results show that the greatest challenges lie not so much in a lack of technology as in skills gaps.

Usha Yarns secures growth equity investment from Fullerton Carbon Action Fund

Usha Yarns Limited (“Usha Yarns”), a producer of high-quality recycled yarns with advanced, well established production processes, announced a growth equity investment from the Fullerton Carbon Action Fund (“Fullerton”), a private equity strategy managed by Fullerton Fund Management that backs established mid-market companies across Emerging Asia to accelerate decarbonisation.

PERFORMANCE DAYS announces new focus topic & forums for October 2026

With its upcoming October 13–14, 2026 edition, PERFORMANCE DAYS is placing the spotlight on one of the textile industry’s most important transformations: “Bio-Based Materials – From Fiber to Fabric”, a two-part Focus Topic exploring the future of bio-based innovation across the textile value chain. Part 1, presented in October 2026, will focus on fibers and next-generation material developments, while Part 2 at the March 2027 edition will shift the perspective toward dyeing, finishing, additives, and processing technologies.

Febratex 2026 to be the largest edition of the leading textile trade fair in the Americas with 10 exhibition halls

Febratex 2026 will be the largest edition in the history of the leading textile trade fair in the Americas. Dedicated to the textile and apparel manufacturing industries, the event will take place from August 18–21, 2026, in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil, with a strong focus on technology, sustainability, and business generation.

Cotton Brazil Dialogues field trip brings international stakeholders closer to Brazil’s cotton production chain

How do you build trust across the global textile value chain? By opening the farm gates. This is the principle behind the Cotton Brazil Dialogues. At the end of July, the programme welcomed its first group of international participants for a five-day immersion into Brazilian cotton production, combining field visits with technical workshops to showcase the quality, sustainability, innovation and traceability behind one of the world’s leading cotton origins.