REPREVE® and Textile Takeback™ receive honorable mention from fast company as a world changing idea in sustainability/energy

UNIFI’s efforts are recognized for progressing innovation and environmental responsibility through textile circularity

With millions of tons of textiles discarded each year, UNIFI’s Textile Takeback aims to transform the industry’s take-make-waste model by diverting textile waste from landfills, giving the material a new life, and limiting the industry’s waste footprint. Through this pioneering program, polyester-based fabrics, including discarded post-consumer materials, are collected and transformed into REPREVE – the leading recycled performance fiber, trusted by global brands to power sustainable goods.

Annually, the United States alone throws away up to 11.3 million tons of textile waste—around 2,150 pieces of clothing each second (Bloomberg). Through UNIFI’s proprietary process, the Company transforms dyed and undyed polyester-based textile discards into recycled resin through an innovative material conversion process. The recycled resin is then converted into REPREVE fiber or blended with recycled bottle material to achieve desired specifications.

This year’s World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 45 winners, 216 finalists, and more than 300 honorable mentions—with health, climate, energy, and artificial intelligence among the most popular categories. A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 2,200 entries across urban design, education, nature, politics, technology, corporate social responsibility, and more. Several new categories were added this year including rapid response, crypto and block chain, agriculture, and workplace. The 2023 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Italy to Singapore to New Zealand.

Fast Company’s Spring 2023 issue (on newsstands May 9, 2023) will highlight some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and forward-thinking companies that are actively tackling global challenges.

“We are thrilled to be recognized in Fast Company’s 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards,” said Eddie Ingle, Chief Executive Officer of Unifi, Inc. “At UNIFI, we believe in a world where waste is the exception–not the rule. We are committed to driving sustainable innovation and providing textile-to-textile recycling infrastructure for our peers. Together, we can make progress towards a closed-loop circular system.”

“UNIFI’s Textile Takeback program offers a sustainable textile-to-textile recycling solution for a more circular apparel supply chain. We recognize that circularity is the future of textiles. Fast Company’s recognition is an incredible validation of our efforts,” said Meredith Boyd, SVP of Technology, Innovation & Sustainability.

UNIFI has led industry innovation since 1971, and as the makers of REPREVE, has proudly transformed more than 35 billion plastic bottles into recycled fiber for new apparel, footwear, home goods, and other consumer products.