A US company that produces high-end yarns and filaments from textile waste streams is set for global expansion after agreeing a new joint venture with a textile manufacturing and finishing firm in Belgium.
PurFi’s circular fibre technologies convert diverse post-industrial/consumer textile waste into what it says are products that will always match or exceed the quality of virgin counterparts – including yarn and filaments for fashion, performance wear and industrial wear.
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Its technology has already been commercialised for companies including Walmart, M&S and Nike, and it is working with Hong Kong based apparel manufacturing giant Crystal International Group to recycle the fabric waste generated by its sports and innerwear factories in Sri Lanka.
The new joint venture with Belgium-based Concordia Textiles will see the formation of PurFi Manufacturing Belgium, headquartered in Waregem, Belgium, with management provided by PurFi CEO Joy Nunn and Concordia Textiles CEO Carl Baekelandt.
The joint venture will create “the first global circular fibre company with the ability to drastically minimise the irresponsible disposal of textile waste worldwide,” the firms say.
PurFi will supply its circular fibre technologies that transform textile waste, regardless of composition, into fibres “that are equal or superior in all aspects to virgin materials.”
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By GlobalDataIn addition to fibre rejuvenation technologies, PurFi also has state-of-the-art fibre lineage software that tracks fibres from their origins to their final destination. This technology provides a system of accountability throughout the entire process from downstream manufacturers to upstream retailers.
“Carl and I recognised the importance of utilising waste in manufacturing and the lack of that practice in the market,” Nunn explains. “There aren’t any textile manufacturers making virgin quality products from textile waste without a [price] premium. On top of that, we shared a vision to take PurFi’s technologies and commercialise them at a global scale.”
As a completely vertically integrated textile manufacturer controlling the entire production flow from sizing and warp beaming over weaving, dyeing, printing, finishing, coating and laminating fabrics, Concordia has the expertise to facilitate rapid global expansion.
“Some years ago, textiles made from recycled materials were just ‘nice to have’ in one’s product range. Today they are a must-have,” adds Baekelandt.
“More and more responsible brands commit themselves to using textiles made from rejuvenated fibres in their offering. Right from the start, Joy and I understood that combining the patented technology of PurFi with the Concordia Textiles Group’s extensive know-how of fabrics would enable us to contribute to textile upcycling on a global level.”
Production is set to begin at the start of 2020 in Belgium.
