Recently signed under the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Jeans Redesign initiative, Isko, in an attempt to overcome the biggest challenge in post-consumer recycled denim fabrics, announced a licensing agreement for Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel’s (HKRITA) award-winning Green Machine, which fully separates and recycles cotton and polyester blends with its unique technology.
An innovative and highly-efficient hydrothermal treatment method is used to decompose cotton into cellulosic powder, allowing separation of polyester fibres from blended fibres without any damage, therefore, maintaining their quality.
The closed-loop process uses only water, heart and less than 5 per cent biodegradable green chemicals.
The machine resulted from a four-year long collaboration, worth US $ 7 million, between HKRITA and H&M Foundation, initiated in 2016. Though still in its pilot phase, the technology is an additional step in Isko’s mission towards the commercialisation of improved recycling technologies.
Faith Konukoğlu, CEO of Isko, said, “Isko has a total commitment to sustainability and through our Responsible Innovation approach, we are constantly looking for new ways of working towards the future of a fully circular fashion industry. Our investment in this new technology is another milestone towards our full circularity vision.”
The investment, as part of Isko’s R-Two programme, will help develop fabrics with a guaranteed minimum 50 per cent or higher GRS (Global Recycle Standard) value from the recycled content blend. This will allow significant reduction in the carbon and water footprints of a fabric, making traceability of the garment’s sustainable journey easier for the customers.
The company, after all, aims at eventually offering 100 per cent post-consumer recycling solution to all its customers.
Edwin Keh, CEO of HKRITA, added, “The Green Machine is a ground-breaking recycling technology. Seeing this project become truly commercially viable is wonderful. We are excited to learn that Isko recognises our innovation and applies this recycling solution to its production. The Green Machine will definitely become another green credential of Isko.”
Isko’s collaboration initiative is one of its latest instances of strategic partnerships. The firm also participated in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab’s Alliances programme recently, allowing research and development of smart textiles and wearable technologies with help from the programme’s researchers, students and industry partners. A ‘landmark’ technology licensing agreement has also been signed with the Pakistan-based denim manufacturer and competitor, Soorty, bringing the two organisations together for the production of garment collections.
