Page 154 - CW E-Magazine (6-2-2024)

News from Abroad

TEXTILE-TO-TEXTILE RECYCLING
BASF’s nylon 6 from textile waste helps Inditex

boost circularity in fashion

German chemicals major, BASF, Tessitura Vignetta from Italy and
and Inditex, the Spanish clothing Freudenberg and Gütermann from
firm behind well-known brands like Germany have also participated in
Zara, have jointly announced a break- this project to develop other garment
through in their efforts for boosting components such as inner labels,
recyclability in the textile industry. filling materials and sewing threads
using loopamid.
With the launch of loopamid, a
polyamide 6 (PA6), made from 100% Mr. Javier Losada, Inditex’s Chief
textile waste, BASF is providing the Sustainability Officer, commented,
first circular solution for nylon apparel “This collaboration is a great exam-
made entirely from textile waste. ple of how, by collaborating all
Zara has turned the material into a together, we can use the new techno-
jacket made from 100% loopamid, logy to transform textile waste into a
now available worldwide. Following new resource. This project is also a
a “design for recycling” approach, all first step to move towards a circular
parts, including fabrics, buttons, fill- solution, as the industry still needs to
ing, hook & loop and zipper are made boost new collecting and recycling
from loopamid. possible, and we are eager to further capacities in order to close the loop
drive the sustainable transformation and scale recycling for post-consumer
Due to its capability to tolerate of the textile industry,” he added. waste.”
all fabric mixtures like PA6 and
elastane, the technology behind Inditex has partnered with other The collaboration of BASF and
loopamid allows textile-to-textile leading groups in the clothing manu- Inditex is based on a joint journey –
recycling of post-industrial and facturing industry to seamlessly in- both companies are following ambi-
post-consumer textile waste. The tegrate loopamid into various gar- tious sustainability goals. By 2030,
fibres and materials can be recycled ment components, including fabrics, BASF aims to double its sales gene-
over multiple cycles. At the same zippers, buttons, fillings, hook and rated with solutions for the circular
time, the material characteristics are loop fasteners, and sewing threads. economy to €17-bn. To achieve this,
identical to those of conventional ModaRe, a take-back programme the company is concentrating on three
virgin polyamide. operated by the charity organisation action areas: circular feedstocks, new
Caritas, classified, sorted and pro- material cycles and new business
“BASF has reached an important vided discarded textiles as feedstock. models.
milestone towards circularity in the The Italian company, RadiciGroup,
fashion industry and pioneered an has been working in the process of Inditex aims to have 100% of its
approach to close the loop for nylon transforming loopamid polymer into textile products to be made exclusively
textiles,” said Dr. Ramkumar Dhruva, various types of yarn with different from materials with a smaller envi-
President of BASF’s Monomers divi- characteristics. The multinational ronmental footprint by 2030. As part
sion. “Our loopamid has the potential Japanese fastening products company of this commitment, the Group
to revolutionise the PA6 market for YKK and multinational Velcro expects to have 25% of the textile fibres
the better. We are in the process of companies have also played crucial made from next-generation materials
scaling up our technology to serve our roles in utilising loopamid polymer that do not yet exist at an industrial
customers with commercial quanti- to create plastic components for scale, 40% of conventional recycled
ties. The capsule jacket together with zippers and snap buttons, and hook & materials and 25% of organic and
Inditex is the proof that circularity is loop fasteners. Uniter from Spain, regenerative fibres.

154 Chemical Weekly February 6, 2024

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