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As
fast-fashion retailers face pressure to reduce waste and use
recycled fabrics, Inditex is spending more than 70 million euros
($74 million) to secure supply of Ambercycle's recycled
polyester made from textile waste.
Polyester, a product of the petroleum industry, is widely used
in sportswear as it is quick-drying and durable.
Under the offtake deal, Inditex will buy a "significant" portion
of Ambercycle's production of recycled polyester, which is sold
under the brand cycora, over three years. The clothing retailer
aims for 25% of its fibers to come from "next-generation"
materials by 2030.
The Inditex investment will help Los Angeles-based Ambercycle
fund its first commercial-scale textile recycling factory.
Production of cycora at the plant is expected to begin around
2025, and the material will be used in Inditex products over the
following three years.
Zara Athleticz, a sub-brand of sportswear for men, launched a
capsule collection on Wednesday of "technical pieces" containing
up to 50% cycora. Inditex said the collection would be available
from Zara.com.
Some apparel brands seeking to reduce their reliance on virgin
polyester have switched to recycled polyester derived from
plastic bottles, but that practice has come under criticism as
it has created more demand for used plastic bottles, pushing up
prices.
Textile-to-textile polyester recycling is in its infancy,
though, and will take time to reach the scale required by global
fashion brands.
"We want to drive innovation to scale-up new solutions,
processes and materials to achieve textile-to-textile
recycling," Inditex's chief sustainability officer Javier Losada
said in a statement.
The Ambercycle deal marks the latest in a series of investments
made by Inditex into textile recycling start-ups.
Last year it signed a 100 million euro ($104 million) three-year
deal to buy 30% of the recycled fibre produced by Finland's
Infinited Fiber Co, and also invested in Circ, another U.S. firm
focused on textile-to-textile recycling.
In Spain, Inditex has joined forces with rivals including H&M
and Mango in an association to manage clothing waste, as the
industry prepares for EU legislation requiring member states to
separately collect textile waste from January 2025.
($1 = 0.9436 euros)
(Reporting by Corina Pons and Helen Reid; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman and David Holmes)
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