Sustainability

Home > Sustainability

Recover™ produces low-impact, high-quality cotton fiber. We are committed to achieving circular fashion for all and promote sustainable practices with supply chain and brand partners.

Values

Circular fashion for all

Using Recover™ fibers reduces the environmental impact of cotton garments and is an essential strategy to achieve the ambitious climate targets that the industry has set for 2030.

Recover™ creates recycled cotton fibers and cotton fiber blends with best-in-class sustainability performance. We measure the environmental impact of all our products and processes and are dedicated to reducing our environmental footprint to help achieve the sustainability targets and ambitions that the industry has set. Our commitment to circularity, however, goes beyond sustainable and responsible production of recycled fibers.

Recover™ strives to meet the 17 Sustainable Development Goals as defined by the United Nations. We also participate in several forward-thinking industry initiatives that help drive systemic change by establishing the infrastructure, tools, standards, policies and mindsets that are needed to achieve our vision of ‘circular fashion for all’.

Change is not an option, it is inevitable

We have already crossed several planetary boundaries and are rapidly approaching others. Each year, we produce more than 100 billion garments, while we dispose over 48 million tons of clothing of which 73% goes straight to landfill or incineration. With global fashion consumption projected to grow 62% from 2015 to 2030, so will its associated environmental footprint. At the same time, the fashion industry needs to reduce its emissions with 50% by 2030 to align with the 1.5-degree pathway. This means there is a huge gap to close. Accelerated adoption of recycled cotton by the industry is one of the key strategies that can be applied to achieve this ambitious target.

References:

Ellen MacArthur Foundation, A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning fashion’s future, 2017.

Global Fashion Agenda and BCG, Pulse of the Fashion Industry, 2017

McKinsey & Company and Global Fashion Agenda, Fashion on Climate, 2020

Transparency of environmental and social performance

Recover™ is a leader in circular fashion. We believe that transparency is the principal driver of change in the industry. Recover™ measures and reports on the environmental performance and social compliance of its fiber products and facilities. All claims are supported by third-party certifications and standards as well as studies that Recover™ has conducted using the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) methodology. Recover™ uses Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certification - the current industry standard for tracing recycled content - to ensure traceability of recycled content from the waste suppliers up to the final product.

Projects and Memberships

We partner with other committed actors in the industry, developing sustainable and circular solutions to drive the fashion industry towards a closed-loop system.

We are part of

Textiles 2030

Recover™ is part of Textiles 2030, the WRAP’s initiative to accelerate the fashion and textiles industry’s move towards circularity and system change in the UK. Recover™ collaborates on carbon, water and circular textile targets, and also contributes to national policy discussions with UK governments to shape Extended Producer Responsibility and other critical regulatory developments.

Visit website

Textile Exchange (TE)

Recover™ is member of Textile Exchange, a global non for profit with a robust membership representing leading brands, retailers, and suppliers. Textile Exchange is positively impacting the climate through accelerating the use of preferred materials across the global textile industry.

Visit website

Circular Fashion Partnership (CFP)

As members of the Circular Fashion Partnership led by Global Fashion Agenda, we are working to achieve a long-term, scalable transition to a circular fashion system in Bangladesh, a country heavily reliant on the importation of textile fiber. Thanks to new analysis we can now see the significant value that would come from implementing this system and utilizing textile waste more efficiently there.

Visit website

Policy Hub - Circularity for Apparel and Footwear

The Policy Hub- Circularity for Apparel and footwear unites the apparel and footwear industry to develop ambitious policies that accelerate sustainable practices. We represent more than 700 apparel & footwear stakeholders, including brands, retailers, manufacturers, and NGOs. We gather the technical expertise and knowledge from members of our partner organisations: Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), Federation of European Sporting Goods (FESI), and Textile Exchange. In close collaboration with policymakers, the Policy Hub draws on these technical inputs to propose ambitious policies for the textiles industry in Europe.

Visit website

Accelerating Circularity

Recover™ is part of the Steering Committee of Accelerating Circularity, an apparel industry collaborative project, which has launched efforts to accelerate textile industry’s move from linear to circular. Its project partners are ensuring broad stakeholder representation by collaborating with industry organizations on this work including sharing information, amplifying key messages & streamlining of efforts.

Visit website

Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC)

Sustainable Apparel Coalition is the apparel, footwear, and textile industry's leading alliance for sustainable production. As members of the SAC and leaders in sustainability, we have a continued commitment to improving our environmental performance and share the vision of the coalition to creating a more sustainable, equitable, and just world for all.

Visit website

Global Compact

Recover™ joins the United Nations Global Compact as part of our commitment towards being a responsible company and achieving circular fashion for all. As a participant we commit to operate responsibly, in alignment with universal sustainability principles, take actions to support society, and report to the UN Global Compact annually on our ongoing efforts.

Visit website

World Circular Textiles Day

Recover™ is a member of World Circular Textiles Day, an ever-evolving roadmap towards full circularity by 2050, as we are dedicated to making circularity a reality.

Visit website

Rehubs

Recover™ is a Business Council member of Rehubs, a joint initiative unveiled by Euratex to upcycle textile waste and circular materials all over Europe. The aim is to create 5 hubs to process textile waste and become European coordination centers.

Visit website

American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA)

American Apparel & Footwear Association represent more than 1,000 world famous name brands, retailers, and manufacturers. AAFA is the trusted public policy and political voice of the U.S. apparel and footwear industry and helps its members navigate the complex regulatory environment offering opportunities for networking and collaboration.

Visit website

Denim Deal

The Denim Deal unites parties in the Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) value chain and stimulates them to work together for a period of three years to achieve a more sustainable future in denim.

Visit website

Our certifications

As leaders in sustainability, we commit to improving the environmental performance of our products and solutions. We are third party certified and aligned with the industry standards.

Organic Content Standard (OCS)

Global Recycled Standard (GRS)

Registro de huella de carbono

Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM)

Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM)

Report

Sustainability Report 2021

In honor of World Environment Day yesterday, we release our 2021 Sustainability Report following the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) core framework, outlining this strategy, and maintaining our commitment towards a better future.