Circular economy as a central topic

“The circular economy was the subject of most of the discussions,” says Andreas Merkel, Managing Director of Gebr. Otto “We are focusing on this topic in particular in collaboration with the recycling studio ITA Augsburg. In one project, we are working on the development of a cotton yarn that consists of 50 percent post-consumer recycled cotton, or PCR cotton for short.” 

The ecological benefits of such a development are absolutely convincing: Compared to a kilo of new cotton, a ring yarn with 50 percent PCR content only requires around a fraction of the water and energy that would be needed for new raw material. 

However, the processing of recycled fibers is not entirely simple, as they have completely different properties to virgin cotton. In particular, recycled fibers are significantly shorter. They have a different surface structure and therefore different adhesive and gliding properties. One challenge is to give the roving yarn the right twist so that no false distortions occur in the ring spinning mill. 

“We are currently working on the technical implementation for the spinning mill and spinning preparation,” explains Andreas Merkel. “We have already achieved pleasingly good results for two yarn counts.” 

Inherently sustainable

Gebr. Otto has been committed to recycling for a long time - but so far only in the area of pre-consumer waste. The Otto yarn innovation recot2 consists of 25 percent recycled cotton and 75 percent GOTS-certified virgin organic cotton. This saves around 5,000 liters of (virtual) water per kilogram of recot2 textiles. The recycled material used in recot2 is, for example, selvedges and spool remnants. Gebr. Otto launched this yarn on the market 15 years ago. “However, the recycled yarn has only been in active demand on the market for a few years,” says Andreas Merkel. It is now used by well-known underwear and clothing manufacturers and, according to customers, behaves no differently to cotton yarn made from new fibers. 

Regionality is key, part 1: Innovation partnership with Kelheim

Together with the Bavarian fiber specialist Kelheim Fibres, Gebr. Otto has developed a concept for sustainable and high-performance period underwear. It uses bio-based materials that are characterized by outstanding performance values. The various special viscose fibers used come from Kelheim. They are spun in the appropriate composition by Gebr. Otto. “We develop our yarn blends based on the requirements and test results that Kelheim has determined for the various layers of the panty,” explains Andreas Merkel, Managing Director of Gebr. Otto. “We can supply the desired yarns at short notice, even for special requests from underwear brands, i.e. the users.” 

Regionality is key, part 2: cotton-hemp blend

One innovation that Gebr. Otto is working on is a blend of organic cotton and native hemp from Germany. “Hemp fibers have been around for a long time,” explains Andreas Merkel. “The fiber is somewhat coarser and more ‘stubborn’ than cotton.” With a new pulping process - carried out by a regional partner - Otto can now spin the hemp with long-staple organic cotton. “We were able to achieve good yarn values and received various requests for samples at Techtextil.” The new hemp-cotton blend is used for knitted fabrics as well as woven fabrics and socks. 

Positive in difficult times

“We had a very high number of visitors to our stand over all days of the trade fair,” says Andreas Merkel. “We were able to close some deals directly on site. We also took home orders for samples and inquiries for projects,” summarizes Merkel. “However, this should not obscure the difficult market situation: We are experiencing a period of high purchasing restraint and are seeing insolvencies among market companions and partners. We at Gebr. Otto are also experiencing a decline in sales and volumes compared to the previous year. However, we started at a very high level, which means that we can still operate profitably today.”