Textile recycling specialist Re&Up Recycling Technologies has entered into a strategic collaboration with American denim brand Madewell and global fabric manufacturer Isko.
By converting around 20,000 used jeans into high-quality recycled raw material for a “textile-to-textile” denim collection from Madewell, the partner companies are demonstrating the market readiness of circular systems for the denim sector.
The challenge with old jeans lies primarily in the variety of materials and the different levels of wear and tear caused by use. Re&Up’s process is therefore designed to work independently of the original material composition and transform textile waste into a new “raw material building block”.
Recycling blended fabrics into next-gen cotton and polyester
Re&Up’s advanced recycling technology allows these used garments to be broken down and processed into next-gen cotton and polyester fibers that meet the durability and aesthetic needs of the premium denim market. The denim weaver Isko is responsible for further processing the fibers, turning them into Global Recycled Standard (GRS)-certified fabrics.
Now the US denim brand Madewell has used the material for a capsule collection that was launched in April and is sold via the online shop. Founded in 2006, the brand has had a denim take-back initiative for more than a decade, collecting and recycling over two million pairs of jeans.
“Closing the loop on post-consumer denim requires industrial precision,” said Marco Lucietti, Head of Global Marketing & Communications at RE&UP. “Our collaboration with Madewell and ISKO shows that we can break down complex, worn garments and reintegrate them into the supply chain as high-quality next-gen cotton and polyester. This is a model for how brands can leverage their own take-back systems to create a repeatable, closed-loop production cycle.”
Isko and Re&Up both belong to the international conglomerate Sanko Group. Drawing on Sanko’s century of expertise in textile innovation, Re&Up creates a seamless circular ecosystem that converts end-of-life textile waste back into high-quality raw materials on a large scale.
