Global apparel brands have been on the roll to make fashion even more sustainable. Numerous initiatives to recycle and reuse the wardrobe essentials have also been taken. To go a level up on this front, the non-profit arm of Swedish fashion retail company H&M (Hennes & Mauritz AB), H&M Foundation had collaborated with Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA). Now, to bolster research on textile recycling processes, both are launching two new innovative textile recycling units in Hong Kong.
At the facilities, HKRITA’s breakthrough ‘hydrothermal’ recycling technology solutions will be used.
HKRITA introduced the hydrothermal technique last year for cotton reprocessing and polyester blends into new fibers. Notably, blends remain mostly unrecyclable in textiles.
The facility has also been thrown open to customers where they can bring their unwanted garments, and watch the Garment-To-Garment Recycling System recycle their clothing and make new fashion products which would be an amazing experience to relish and simultaneously reduce dumping into landfills.
To make big use of the innovative technology, fashion brands and stakeholders have been invited from world over to experiment the technology, and later deploy at their own units. In
this regard, H&M Foundation will work to push for the change in the global fashion industry. Reportedly, H&M Foundation is expected to put in € 5.8 million with HKRITA in the next four years to make the technology successful in promoting sustainable fashion.
“This is a significant step towards a new fashion industry that operates within the planetary boundaries. As we scale up and make this technology freely available to the industry, we will reduce the dependence on limited natural resources to dress a growing global population,” reportedly maintained Erik Bang, Innovation Lead, H&M Foundation.