Recover receives investment to scale recycled cotton output

Recover, a leading producer of sustainable, premium recycled cotton fibre and cotton fibre blends, has announced new funding to scale its operations and to grow its output over the next five years to close the loop on fashion.

The family-owned company with a 70-year long history in textile recycling technology has announced it will achieve its goals on increasing its output to 200,000 metric tons of recycled fibre per year by 2025 through a strategic partnership with Story3 Capital.

The “significant investment, resources and best-in-class operators” received from Story3 Capital will allow Recover to achieve its growth initiatives through expansion to meet the “surging demand from the global fashion industry,” added the company.

As a result of the investment, Recover will expand output to save nearly three trillion litres of water each year, equivalent to the drinking water consumed by 3 billion people on an annual basis. It will also allow 500,000 acres of land to be directed away from cotton cultivation for other uses.

“My family has been innovating for generations to perfect the Recover process, which is primed to be fashion industry’s biggest resource in meeting its sustainability goals,” said Alfredo Ferre, chief executive of Recover in a press statement. “We’re proud to offer potential partners the highest quality and lowest-impact fibre available in today’s market, and we look forward to increasing our sustainability footprint thanks to our partnership with Story3 Capital.”

Recover receives “significant investment” from Story3 Capital to expand output

Peter Comisar, founder and chief executive of Story3 Capital, added: “Recover is uniquely positioned to be the global sustainability leader in cotton recycling by acting as an agent of change within the industry, and quickly becoming the gold standard in closing the loop on fashion.”

Ben Malka, operating partner at Story3 Capital and executive chairman of Recover, said: “We immediately saw the potential to impact the pent-up demand for recycled cotton by scaling production and working with the industry to innovate and migrate to Recover Fibres.”

Recover recycles industrial and pre-and post-consumer cotton waste, replacing the need to cultivate cotton, limiting the use of dyes through its ColorBlend system, and reducing textile landfill waste.

The premium recycled cotton fibre from textile waste is ultimately spun into yarn by supply chain partners and transformed into finished apparel garments and home textiles. Recover has supplied its recycled cotton and cotton blend fibres to brands including Wrangler, H&M Group, Tommy Hilfiger, G-Star, The Northface, Billabong and Bonobo.

Recover’s recycled cotton fibre has the lowest environmental impact score in the world, according to the Higg Material Sustainability Index.

It is hoped that this investment will further support its sustainable initiatives, as Recover explains that the adverse environmental impact of the fashion industry is “staggering, and the industry is lagging behind its climate action commitments and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.

Cotton is one of the most damaging crops grown on earth, requiring large amounts of water, pesticides, and land. According to a recent study, one T-shirt requires 2,700 litres of water, equivalent to what an average person drinks in three years.

Images: courtesy of Recover