Mill Memo: Latest Circularity News and REFIBRA™ Denim from Bangladesh and India
Since in-person trade shows are still put on hold this fall, Carved in Blue is taking an opportunity to digitally connect with its community.
COVID-19 has created challenges, but it has also ushered in a “Great Reset,” allowing companies to pause and accelerate their sustainable efforts.
We touched base with denim mills in Bangladesh and India to catch up on their latest initiatives to address circularity and SDG 12: responsible consumption and production. We also got the inside scoop on the newest ways they are using TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ Lyocell in their creations.
BEXIMCO
Bangladesh
S. Adil Hasan, general manager denim product development and sales support
Carved in Blue: How are you addressing SDG 12?
Adil: During the recent pandemic, customers’ buying pattern has tremendously changed for each commodity and it keeps changing every other day. The focus is more on the need based things rather than impulse buying. This has affected a lot to the fashion industry consumption patterns.
With these changes in the apparel industry, we have taken an initiative to launch PPE production to keep our workforce busy and even Beximco Ltd have created more jobs in the market. We have delivered a large volume of orders in a very short span of time with quality and quantity grown much bigger in later months. Hence we decided to create a separate Beximco PPE division as Beximco Health.
In addition to this, we have also reformed a lot of execution parts in Beximco and hence put more of our focus in sustainable production and consumption based on advanced technology, resource efficiency and reduced waste. From fibers, yarns, chemical, and water, we are taking a holistic approach so that our production will be one of its kind. We were using a lot recycled materials into our production such as post and pre consumer waste cotton, REFIBRA™ Technology, recycled polyester which we have already increased and we are coming up with the most sustainable laundry in Bangladesh in partnership with Jeanologia to make sure we will provide the most sustainable product from fiber to apparel to our consumers. With this state of the art Laundry in Bangladesh, we will recycle the water back into the process as well as for domestic use hence less use of fresh water and less load on the ETP.
Carved in Blue: What new fabrics have you developed with REFIBRA™ Technology?
Adil: With this concept in focus of having a circular approach for fashion, we have created a line where we are using REFIBRA™ Technology together with other sustainable fibers such as recycled cotton, recycled polyester, etc. and calling it as Relax Box. This collection is consists of rigid, comfort stretch and high stretches with super soft hand which gives comfort to the wearer as well as premium look and feel too.
KG FABRIKS
India
Srinivasa Raghavan K, team lead, brands and exports
Carved in Blue: How are you addressing SDG 12?
Srinivasa: We are the most sustainable denim fabric manufacturing company across the globe.
All denim fabrics produced by us are Green Denim products, which is audited and certified by Tuv Nord in terms of both products and processes. We have three registered trademark denim products:
- Green Dnm, our true sustainable denim
- Product Zero, our super sustainable denim
- Nature’s Blue, our most sustainable denim
KG Fabriks is India’s only GreenCo Gold rated denim company by CII for water conservation, renewable energy usage, GHG reduction, waste management and recycling, green infrastructure and energy efficient operations. We are also Oeko-Tex, GOTS, BCI, GRS, RCS, ISO and ZDHC certified.
We have been awarded first prize in industrial water conservation by Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India for the year 2018.
We are pleased to announce that we have joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Jeans Redesign project, which will see us redesign denim fabric for production of jeans, in line with the guidelines that set minimum requirements around garment durability, material health, water usage, recyclability and traceability.
Carved in Blue: What new fabrics have you developed with REFIBRA™ Technology?
Srinivasa: We are producing TENCEL™ Lyocell blended denims from Lenzing regularly. We have taken few developments in REFIBRA™ Technology and qualities are ready for sampling.
NZ DENIM
Bangladesh
Jasim Uddin, project director
Carved in Blue: How are you addressing SDG 12?
Jasim: Though the pandemic of Covid-19 is still causing havoc all over the world, like all other economies Bangladesh is also restarting. We, the NZ family, must adapt to a new vision and mission in this changed world of business and life to make a better future. As per the initiative of UNDP SDG 12, we have taken the following steps:
- By 2030 we will use 40 percent recycled yarns in all our products to ensure the circular economy.
- By 2025 we will reduce waste (of industrial types) and by products by 30 percent.
- We have already achieved a chemical management system in accordance with ZDHC and GHS.
- By 2021 we will recycle (re-utilize) 30 percent of waste water and by 2030 100 percent.
- By 2025 we will reduce the consumption of chemicals by 50 percent in all processes.
- By 2025 we will reduce the consumption of process water by 50 percent, developing the processes and machines.
Carved in Blue: What new fabrics have you developed with REFIBRA™ Technology?
Jasim: When developing a new product, we (NZ) always concentrate on circularity, trying to reduce the consumption of raw materials, water, process, energy and chemicals impacting carbon emissions. Keeping all these elements in mind, we have developed the following products that fall under the newly developed group “Kitty Butter” and vow to continue with more.
REFIBRA™ Technology is a revolutionary textile solution made from cotton waste fabrics. It combines the best of two worlds to create one of the most ecological wood-based fabrics on the planet. The recycling of cotton waste fabrics into virgin textile TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers offers a practical solution to enable the circular economy in the apparel industry.
SHASHA DENIM
Bangladesh
Jamal Abdun Naser, director
Carved in Blue: How are you addressing SDG 12?
Jamal: Due to pandemic situation and global challenges, we also needed to restructure or reset our business. Our management handled the situation precisely but keeping one thing in mind that whatever we will do or implement, it won’t harm our employees either financially or physically.
Therefore, we had to look after all our sectors/units carefully and ensure no additional consumption or process loss inside our production units. Apart from this, our sustainable process in dyeing and finishing is already giving big benefits due to its less consumption of water and chemicals. So ultimately, less pressure in ETP.
In one work, this is a foot step and our contribution for the environment and to our greener world.
Carved in Blue: What new fabrics have you developed with REFIBRA™ Technology?
Jamal: We (Shasha) first got the chance through you to promote REFIBRA™ Technology products in Bangladesh. With the vast technical experiences for TENCEL™ Lyocell fabric producer in our country, we tried to use REFIBRA™ Technology in different construction and patterns to get the finest look and presentable quantity towards our brands. As a result, we got a very positive response from all the brands and they were much interested to give another step into sustainability. But, there is always price pressure from all the brands and we had to manage them with explanations. So we are focused to develop with low percentage of REFIBRA™ Technology in the product with different constructions and to get a sustainable touch on the quality. This also gives benefits and grows interest for brands/buyers for using REFIBRA™ Technology in their product range.
Our contents and collection are based on below:
- TENCEL™ + REFIBRA™
- TENCEL™ + REFIBRA™ + poly + spandex,
- REFIBRA™ + cotton + cotton spandex
- REFIBRA™ + cotton spandex
- Cotton + REFIBRA™ + poly + spandex
We think this new approach will change the upcoming trends and there will be much uses of REFIBRA™ Technology yarn.