The denim deal was signed in Amsterdam almost two years ago. The aim of the agreement is to make post-consumer cotton recycling the new standard in the denim industry. The ambitious initiative, which only began locally with Dutch players, was soon joined by more and more international companies such as the US group PVH. What progress has been made since then?
The denim deal was signed on October 29, 2020 by 28 parties, seven of which fall into the brand or trading company category. These include names like Kings of Indigo, Smart Fibersort and Scotch & Soda. At that time, the brands pledged to work together to ensure that 5 percent post-consumer recycled cotton (PCR) is used in new denim collections. All participating brands have set themselves an additional goal: to produce 3 million denim items in which at least 20 percent of the material used consists of recycled post-consumer cotton. The other signatories of the agreement contribute to this goal through their activities.
It is important to underline once again that this is not about the recycling of denim garments, but about cotton in general, emphasizes Roosmarie Ruigrok, who is involved as coordinator of the Denim Deal by the City of Amsterdam, in a video call with FashionUnited . This recycled material is then used by the denim companies.
Denim Deal: Rapid implementation
A progress report is published annually as part of the denim deal. FashionUnited was able to see the initial values from 2020, when the initiative started, as well as the first monitoring report for 2021.
During the first evaluation, which was completed in August this year and covers the period up to January 1, 2022, there are a total of 39 signatories to the agreement, including eight parties classified as brands or trading companies. The monitoring report shows quick, positive results. The number of denim products brought to the Dutch market by the brands involved in the agreement and made from at least 5 percent post-consumer recycled cotton has increased from 8 percent to 26 percent in 2021.
However, the signatories of the denim deal are not only active in the Dutch market. Many of them also sell large quantities in the international market. Here the recycling share of the signatory companies has increased even more. Two years ago, 12 percent of items contained at least 5 percent post-consumer cotton, by 2021 it was already 40 percent.
The monitoring report also reports that many of the participating brands have set additional goals. Emile Bruls from Rijkswaterstaat, an agency of the Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure and Water Management, also shares the observations, which also signed the denim deal and is also closely involved in monitoring the initiative. Almost everyone involved has set the bar higher than 5 percent PCR cotton in the products. The range extends from 7 percent to 100 percent by the end of 2023.
Denim Deal talks to potential candidates
Ruigrok and Bruls agree that the fact that the brands and retail companies involved have set themselves higher goals is only positive. For example, 42 percent of the denim items produced by brands worldwide already contain 20 percent PCR cotton. Of the items placed on the Dutch market, 36 percent have reached this level. According to Bruls, the goal of selling 3 million denim garments worldwide with a PCR content of at least 20 percent by 2021 has already been achieved. However, it will be much more difficult to reach this number in the Dutch market.
“With the current number of brands, that won’t be achievable,” he says. The monitoring report shows that by 2021, the eight parties had brought “only” 1.86 million denim items to the Dutch market. Ruigrok therefore points out that talks with potential signatories are ongoing.Most of the parties that have signed the denim deal belong to a different part of the production chain.However, these parties all depend on each other when in the denim There are several working groups looking at the challenges signatories are facing, such as which quality fabrics are still wearable and which should be recycled, and what is needed is to properly recycle post-consumer cotton.
Denim Deal: These challenges remain
The fact that rapid progress has already been made does not mean that there are no more challenges. The monitor highlights several areas where improvements can still be made or where there is simply a lot more work to be done.
The textile collectors point out that the municipalities must better inform consumers about the separation of textiles. This communication should also talk about how textile waste becomes “dirty” and unusable, but also the impact of fast fashion on textile waste.
It is also clear that there is very little post-consumer cotton on the market. If companies want to start incorporating more recycled cotton into their collections, the raw material has to be there. Therefore, there is also a need to increase the production of high-quality recycled cotton and increase the stock of raw materials. However, increasing this supply is not easy. For this purpose, several steps need to be improved. These steps are: a very good sorting process, automatic cutting and cleaning of the textiles, efficient transport of the fibers to the recycling plant and spinning mill and improvement of the techniques for measuring the fiber length, appropriate mixing of the fibers and testing of the fiber strength. So there are still many steps to be taken, but at least they have been identified.
All participants in the denim deal agree that there must be an effective quality standard for PCR cotton. The material currently does not correspond to the GOTS certification. Participants believe that an effective standard must ensure that recycling options are built into the design to make clothing easier to recycle, that there is a high supply of raw materials from collection and sorting, that the production of PCR cotton with long fibers is possible and that there is transparency about the composition and origin of the cotton.
Denim deal: advances, challenges and potential expansion
So it should be clear that while many steps have been taken, there are still many challenges in incorporating end-of-life textiles into the production of new denim items. In many ways, however, the denim deal has given brands and other parties a boost to actively work on sustainability in their stores and collections.
In the interview, Ruigrok pointed out that brands have also been looking at other aspects of their business to become more sustainable. “So the denim deal also has an impact on other steps.” The more brands and companies join the denim deal, the greater the impact will be. For this reason, a possible extension and even an international expansion of the agreement is already being considered. “There are already similar projects in other countries that would have to be merged in order to achieve even more impact,” emphasizes Bruls.
This translated post previously appeared on FashionUnited.nl.