Turkish denim mill Isko is continuing its circular journey with a new partnership with Swedish research and development company MoRe Research, a part of Rise Research Institutes of Sweden.
Together, the companies will develop new, sustainable technologies that look to waste and cellulose-based materials—those derived from natural elements such as plants, algae and bacteria—to close fashion’s production loop. Another goal of the partnership is to make the production of cellulose-based materials more sustainable.
The partnership calls on MoRe Research’s expertise to find ways to repurpose the clean and toxic-free cellulose powders produced by decomposed cotton and recycled polyester, and put it back into fabric production. Isko CEO Fatih Konukoğlu highlighted both companies’ track records for producing sustainable innovations, adding that the collaboration has the potential to make a big impact at scale.
“This is a strategic partnership where each of us is contributing our knowledge and expertise—Isko in fabric development and MoRe Research in their work with cellulosic materials—to explore new possibilities and develop sustainable solutions that will help us reduce our impact on the environment and create a circular economy,” he said.
Isko has centered its focus on innovations like this as part of its Responsible Innovation strategy, and is celebrated for its R-TWO program using recycled fibers as well as reused cotton that comes from its own production loss. Reused cotton is then blended with recycled polyester derived from PET bottles.
The mill also recently joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Jeans Redesign project and announced a licensing agreement for Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel’s (HKRITA) award-winning Green Machine, a technology that fully separates and recycles cotton and polyester blends at scale. The closed loop process uses only water, heat and less than 5 percent biodegradable green chemicals. Still in its pilot stage, the technology reflects Isko’s goal to improve and commercialize recycling technologies that will eventually enable the company to offer a 100 percent post-consumer recycling solution to all of its customers.
Collaborations are also key for the denim mill, which in July partnered with vertically integrated Pakistan denim manufacturer Soorty on a technology licensing agreement that brought together each company’s fabric and garment production—a move that challenged the traditional notion of competition.
Isko notes that its latest partnership with MoRe Research is just “one of many projects” it’s working on for a more sustainable future.