Starting this year, a portion of Levi’s 501 jeans will be made from discarded jeans that have been recycled into a new fabric by Swedish company Renewcell.
Recently, Levi’s has been releasing a significant number of collections that feature recycled materials. Now, the denim brand says that Renewcell will help them scale their sustainability efforts and have thus utilized a recycled material called Circulose for its 501 jean style.
To create Circulose, cotton and viscose garments in addition to textile production waste are collected. Using a machine to remove buttons and zippers, the textiles are then shredded and chemically washed, resulting in a material that serves as an alternative to cotton, viscose, and synthetic fibres.
“When you’re considering chemical recycling, you want to make sure that there aren’t any toxic chemicals that make their way into the fabrics,” says Paul Dillinger, head of global product innovation at Levi Strauss & Co.. “But Renewcell’s factory must operate within Sweden’s very stringent environmental protection regulations. It was ultimately a very clean process, with no effluents coming out of the plant.”
All images in this article are courtesy of Levi’s.
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