Zara and Circ team up on recycled polycotton collection

Inditex’s Zara has unveiled a new partnership with textile waste recycling company Circ on a collection utilising recycled polycotton blended textiles.

Available in 11 markets, the womenswear capsule features a series of lyocell garments and polyester garments made with 50 percent and 43 percent recycled polycotton textile waste, respectively, as noted in a release.

The material itself sees blends of polyester and cotton form into a new recycled raw material via Circ’s technology, which is said to be “the only platform to successfully separate polycotton blended textile waste” and recover cellulosic and synthetic fibres.

Speaking on the collection, Peter Majeranowski, CEO of Circ, said that he believed the partnership with Zara signalled “a seismic shift in how the fashion industry and consumers view what is possible in sustainability”.

He continued: “This is the first-time recycled polyester and lyocell clothing manufactured from polycotton textile waste is in the hands of consumers, and we are taking important steps towards making circularity the new standard.

“Circ and Zara want to create a new future in which the garments hanging in our closets are made from recycled materials that can then be recycled over and over again.”

The collection drop comes after Inditex made an investment into Circ last year, with the goal of helping it accelerate industrial-scale solutions towards fashion circularity.