TEXINTEL LIVE INTERVIEW - Inside COATS Sustainability Transformation - A Blueprint For A Circular Future

Debbie McKeegan, CEO of Texintel, interviews Chris Dearing - Vice President of Sustainability at Coats, at the Texprocess trade show in Frankfurt.

Coats, a global thread manufacturer with around 20,000 employees in over 50 countries, has made sustainability central to its strategy, structured around five pillars: energy, materials, water, waste, and people, aligned with the UN SDGs. Chris explains that Coats has SBTi‑aligned 2030 targets and a 2050 net-zero goal, has already cut scope 1 and 2 emissions by 46% from a 2019 baseline, and moved to about 62% renewable electricity with a target of 100% by 2030, including work to electrify fossil-fuel boilers.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Sustainability is core to Coats’ strategy

  • Coats embeds sustainability in all strategic decisions, structured around five pillars: energy, materials, water, waste, and people, aligned with the UN SDGs.

  • The company operates in 50+ countries with 20,000 employees across apparel and footwear.

Strong climate and energy commitments with real progress

  • Coats has SBTi-aligned 2030 targets and a 2050 Net Zero goal.

  • They’ve already delivered a 46% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions vs. 2019, and currently use about 62% green-certified electricity, targeting 100% by 2030, plus exploring boiler electrification.

Circularity and waste as a resource

  • Coats is shifting from virgin oil-based materials to recycled, bio-based, and renewable inputs, including moving from PET bottle recycling toward textile-to-textile recycling.

  • They now treat waste as a “springboard for a new story”, collaborating across the supply chain to close loops on packaging, process waste, and thread materials.

Ambitious zero-waste and circular product innovations

  • Coats set a zero waste to landfill target for 2026 and achieved it a year early, proving it can be done at global scale.

  • They have developed textile-to-textile high-tenacity sewing thread that matches virgin polyester in performance and colour properties.

Partnership-driven innovation across the supply chain

  • 95% of Coats’ brand customers have SBTi-style climate commitments, making Coats a critical enabler of their targets.

  • Coats collaborates closely with machinery, chemical, fibre and innovation partners, illustrating how new technologies and partners are rapidly emerging to meet sustainability challenges.


CHAPTERS:

00:00 Introduction to Coats and Sustainability

02:52 Coats' Sustainability Strategy and Goals

05:57 Circular Economy and Waste Management Innovations

08:51 Technological Innovations in Textile Production

12:02 Collaborative Efforts and Future Directions



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