A new pilot aims to demonstrate the power of collaboration.
On Monday, CleanKore and HMS announced a strategic partnership to advance sustainable denim manufacturing from fiber to finishing.
The companies are launching a pilot to create a cost-saving, scalable and commercially viable blueprint for sustainability that combines CleanKore’s patented low-impact dyeing process with HMS’s patented sludge-free washing and finishing technology. It will be led jointly and individually by HMS and CleanKore, with support from select partner mills and laundries.
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“Through this pilot, we want to generate real data, measurable reductions in water, chemical use, energy consumption, and sludge, as well as improvements in fabric performance and finishing quality. We also hope to identify best practices that can be shared across the industry,” Darryl Costin, Jr., CleanKore LLC CEO, and Beyza Baykan, CEO and founder of HMS at BayTech, told SJ Denim.
Additionally, they aim to educate the manufacturing ecosystem and their brand partners about the benefits of pairing low-impact dyeing with sustainable washing. “Ultimately, our purpose is to help build a textile industry that protects the planet while still meeting the aesthetic and performance standards the market expects,” the executives said.
HMS and CleanKore complement each other by addressing two different stages of the denim supply chain with a shared mission: to make textile production cleaner, safer, and dramatically less wasteful. The pilot is part of their plan to work toward bringing a “fully integrated, planet-positive solution to the global market.”
U.S.-based CleanKore transforms the dyeing process through patented technology that eliminates potassium permanganate (PP). The technology significantly reduces water, chemical, and energy use throughout the supply chain, while controlling dye penetration and improving fabric performance.
Turkish HMS complements this by replacing pumice stones and harmful wash chemicals with its composite, circular washing stones that eliminate sludge, reduce water usage, and deliver consistent, authentic aesthetics.
“No single innovation can fix denim’s environmental challenges alone, the impact has to be systemic,” the executives said. “This partnership shows how powerful it can be when solutions across different stages of production come together instead of working in isolation. We are illustrating that sustainability goals can be achieved by collaboration of brand, manufacturing channels and technology partners. Because true sustainability requires collective action. By uniting our strengths, we’re demonstrating that the future of denim isn’t just cleaner, it’s collaborative.”
HMS and CleanKore emphasized that the pilot is the first phase of a broader long-term collaboration. Additional initiatives, pilot results and commercial programs will be announced in the coming months.
