The US clothing group PVH Corporation joins a textile consortium for circular fashion.
As part of the “Fiber-to-Fiber” textile consortium, the group joins French biochemical company Carbios and textile and footwear suppliers On, Patagonia, Puma and Salomon. The companies have joined forces to test and further develop Carbios’ biological recycling technology on their own products, the biochemical company announced on Monday. The aim is to transform the textile industry into a circular economy.
Together they also want to prove that Carbios’ biological process – which uses highly selective enzymes that can recycle mixed starting materials – is possible for closed-loop recycling of plastic-containing garments on an industrial scale.
Over a two-year period, the group will work to expand biological recycling of polyester synthetic fiber articles and build preparatory infrastructure, such as sorting and shredding technologies for complex textile waste, according to the release.
“Our consortium aims to support the development of viable approaches to address the fashion industry’s contribution to climate change,” say the founding members of the consortium. “The addition of PVH Corporation makes us an even stronger alliance. We very much welcome that.”
The formation of the Fiber-to-Fiber textile consortium, which now includes the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, was formed in July 2022 in response to the lack of recycling technology for textile waste.