LONDON – Vintage apparel retailer Beyond Retro and its parent company Bank & Vogue have partnered with Swedish textile recycling company Re:newcell in a bid to introduce a closed loop production cycle and give new life to more than 90,000 pairs of otherwise discarded jeans.
Re:newcell’s proprietary technology dissolves cotton, viscose and other natural fibres into new pulp which, when turned back into a textile fibre, can then be fed back into the textile supply chain.
Speaking to Ecotextile News ahead of today’s announcement, Harald Cavalli-Björkman, head of communications at Re:newcell noted that while Beyond Retro will not sell recycled stock made from the fibre, the Swedish company is confident of its commercial potential, noting interest from “many brands that lead the industry in sustainable material innovation.”