Recycled Cotton
The recycled cotton used in our range comes from both pre- and post-consumer sources, keeping materials in circulation for longer and reducing a garment's impact compared to one made wholly with virgin fibres.
Sourcing cotton fibre from a non-virgin source allows us to reduce the impact that farming and processing have on our carbon footprint, so we are constantly assessing where we can use recycled cotton in our range.
For clarity, cotton recycling involves two elements: pre-consumer recycling and post-consumer recycling. Pre-consumer recycled cotton consists of the re-use of surplus or waste fibres during both the weaving and industrial process of cotton manufacture. Post-consumer recycling involves the reclaiming of fibres after use by consumers and manually reconditioning the fibre for re-use.
The process of recycling cotton begins with cotton waste being mechanically shredded back to a fibrous state, before being taken for spinning. Typically, depending on the harshness of the process, Recycled Cotton needs to be blended with longer virgin fibres to ensure the quality of the yarn is kept as high as possible.
Post-consumer Recycled Cotton is harder to achieve, with the challenges posed by securing quality waste cotton that has been washed numerous times but still offers the fibre length needed for recycling. Colour is also a factor for consideration as bleaching and re-dyeing fabrics can have a greater impact on the environment. But sorting colours can be laborious, and with limited recycling facilities, getting our hands on post-consumer Recycled Cotton is tough.
Our Recycled Cotton Journey
All the Recycled Cotton in our range is currently pre-consumer recycled, meaning it comes from waste generated during the manufacturing process, before it reaches the customer. We see this as a stepping stone to using post-consumer Recycled Cotton - made from textiles that have already been worn and discarded, when the fibre becomes more readily available and our processes more streamlined. We already have some exciting post-consumer Recycled Cotton projects in the pipeline.
