Turkey-based jeans manufacturer Ereks is following through on its plan to go circular by 2030, and a new washing center is at the heart of this sustainable plan.
The Blue Matters responsible production washing platform incorporates circular design principles established by the Ellen MacArthur Jeans Redesign program, including the use of recycled content and the elimination of permanganate and pumice stones from its product range.
The center also strongly emphasizes digitization, a concept that’s been pushed front and center following the global Covid-19 pandemic. Designs and operations will be digitalized, allowing the center to monitor materials, impacts and outcomes more efficiently. It also has a digital fabric library in the works that will make it possible to monitor performance, test results of certain fabrics and increase efficiency.
But sustainability is nothing new for Ereks. Founded in 1985, the GOTS-certified company began its sustainable journey over 10 years ago. The Blue Matters center, however, will help the company expand upon its established sustainable production goals.
“At Blue Matters, we have surrounded ourselves with the latest technologies and experienced industry experts, and we started our digitalization journey to manage enormous data inputs,” a spokesperson told Rivet. “We aim to integrate all of our operations with the latest digitalization tools in order to manage our resources efficiently, minimize errors and get our products ready as fast and sustainably as possible with maximum quality. We strongly believe that Blue Matters will be a game-changing facility in how we digitally approach denim supply chain operations and sustainability practices.”
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Blue Matter will produce a sustainability report with detailed data in comparison to previous years to measure the center’s progress. It will also provide traceability into its materials using FibreTrace mixing minerals that are embedded in the fibers and blockchain technology to trace the garments from raw fiber to the store.
According to the Blue Matters spokesperson, the denim industry can’t afford to wait any longer in their adoption of circularity.
“We should realize that circularity and sustainability start from the design phase, and it should be optimized throughout all of the supply chain,” the company said. “We do not have a single second to waste now—we already wasted lots of time and we must act immediately.”
Consumers can expect the fruits of its labor in the coming months. The center has already begun working with denim mills to offer design and wash services on collections that will be available in the beginning of 2021.