Mexican denim producer Kaltex is joining forces with takeback solutions provider ReCircled to create the first vertical, transparent supply chain for circular denim in the Western hemisphere.
Their exclusive strategic partnership will give fashion brands and retailers a channel for recycling unsellable goods, instead of sending them to landfill.
ReCircled specializes in the collection and sortation of apparel, footwear and accessories for repair or recycling. The Denver company takes on returned or unsold products from brands and retailers and assesses them for damage. Goods that can’t be cleaned and refurbished for sale are sent to recycling partners to be rendered into raw materials for use in new products. Through its partnership with Kaltex, ReCircled plans to develop branded take-back programs, working with companies and their distribution networks to take on unsellable denim goods and prepare them for recycling.
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Once ReCircled cleans and removes trims from the reclaimed denim, Kaltex will recycle the material content. The 100-year-old denim, apparel and home goods manufacturer claims to be the largest fully vertical producer in North America, with its Mexico facilities encompassing mechanical recycling, spinning, dyeing, and weaving, along with cut-and-sew and laundries. It relies on its own natural gas-fired cogeneration energy plant for most of its energy needs. A water treatment facility processes 240 liters of water each second, removing dyes and chemicals so the wastewater doesn’t harm aquatic life.
“Kaltex has been recycling cotton for 15 years, but now we are truly circular with the infrastructure to pick up cotton products from almost any place in the U.S. and transport to our facility where we are vertical from fiber to finished goods,” executive vice president of apparel Eric Goldstein said. “This process is the first of its kind in the hemisphere, it’s transparent, sustainable with a very low carbon footprint, and truly circular.”
The manufacturer has received Oeko Tex, Recycled Claim Standard (RCS), Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) and Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) certifications, and last year joined the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol.
“From the beginning we knew that collaboration was needed to build the systems that allow for recycling textiles at the highest level,” ReCircled CEO Scott Kuhlman said. “With the system we now have in place, it’s finally a reality.”
