Textile Exchange And Fashion Industry Charter For Climate Action Launch The 2025 Recycled Polyester Challenge—A Joint Industry Initiative

Image Courtesy of Textile Exchange

Textile and apparel brands are invited to take climate action by joining the 85 brands and suppliers committed to replace their use of virgin polyester with recycled polyester to ultimately shift global volume from an average of 14% to 45% by 2025.

Textile Exchange and the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, convened by UN Climate Change, have launched a joint initiative to spur further a shift in the market towards the uptake of recycled polyester (rPET) and the associated reduction in greenhouse gases (GHGs).

With 85 brands and suppliers already committed, the 2025 Recycled Polyester Challenge serves as an essential catalyst for change in the apparel and textile industry.

The rPET Challenge petitions the apparel industry to commit to increasing the global percentage of recycled polyester from 14% to 45% at 17.1 million metric tons by 2025.

The Challenge continues the successful acceleration that began with Textile Exchange’s 2017 Recycled Polyester Commitment.

The 2025 Recycled Polyester Challenge asks brands to commit to the most ambitious uptake target possible.

High percentage rPET commitments from brands are essential to reaching the 2025 45% recycled volume target and for building critical mass to reach an absolute 90% recycled volume share by 2030.

Global Brands Join

“Helly Hansen is committed to reducing its dependency on fossil fuels and its overall environmental footprint. We recognize that transferring to the use of recycled raw materials is an important action towards that commitment and are proud to be part of the founding cohort of this joint industry initiative.” Rebecca Johansson, Sustainability and R&D Manager | Helly Hansen

“The commitment to only source recycled polyester by 2025 is an important milestone on our journey towards recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030. This will help us decrease our impact on the environment, lowering our carbon footprint and saving resources like water, energy and chemicals. The 2025 Recycled Polyester Challenge is a great example of taking joint responsibility for the future of the industry.” Anna Biverstål, Sustainability Business Expert Materials & Processes | H&M group

“For over two decades, sustainability has been an integral part of adidas’ way of doing business. As part of our new strategy Own The Game, sustainability will play a key role. We are committed to only be using recycled polyester from 2024. This year we will launch the first running shoe that is made to be remade. By 2025, nine out of ten adidas articles will be sustainable: Made with recycled materials, made to be remade or made with nature.” – Katja Schreiber, Senior Vice President Sustainability | adidas

Some of the brands that have committed to date include:

• Adidas

• Athleta

• Aware™ (by The Movement)

• Banana Republic

• Focus Têxtil

• G-Star Raw

• H&M Group

• Helly Hansen

• House of Baukjen

• Inditex Group

• ITOCHU Corporation Textile Material section

• JCrew

Why Is This Important?

Polyester (PET) is the most widely used fiber in the apparel industry, accounting for around 52% of the total volume of fibers produced globally.

The apparel industry accounts for around 32 million tons of the 57 million tons of polyester used each year.

Currently, only approximately 14% of this comes from recycled inputs – predominantly from post-consumer PET bottles (Textile Exchange Preferred Fiber & Materials Market Report 2020).

Recycled polyester has a significantly lower carbon footprint than conventional.

To stay within the 1.5-degree pathway as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we need to bring the share of mechanically recycled (or equivalent) fiber/filament within the polyester market from 14% to 90% by 2030.

By 2025, rPET or equivalent needs to comprise at least 45% of fashion’s polyester market – this is equivalent to roughly 17.1 million metric tons of fiber (assuming a 3% growth rate of the apparel industry).

The 17.1 million metric tons of recycled are intended to replace virgin synthetic feedstocks rather than cannibalize other fiber categories or justify increased industry growth.

Today, mechanically recycled polyester from plastic water bottles makes up the vast majority of recycled polyester; however, chemical recycling, textile to textile recycling and other innovative technologies will be a necessary part of reaching our goal.

About Textile Exchange

Textile Exchange is a global non-profit that creates leaders in the sustainable fiber and materials industry.

The organization manages and promotes a suite of leading industry standards, as well as collects and publishes critical industry data and insights that enable brands and retailers to measure, manage and track their use of preferred fiber and materials.

With a growing membership representing leading brands, retailers, and suppliers, Textile Exchange meaningfully accelerates the use of preferred fibers and increases the adoption of standards and certifications across the global textile industry..

About The Fashion Industry Charter For Climate Action

Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action is an industry-led initiative, convened by UN Climate Change.

Its mission is to drive the fashion industry to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions no later than 2050 in line with keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees.

The Fashion Charter provides a platform which enables collaboration between brands, retailers, suppliers, financial institutions and industry bodies to identify and scale climate solutions to drive the industry towards a 1.5-degree future