#Recycling / Circular Economy

2022-05-12

Inditex signs a three-year commitment to buy Infinna™ upcycled textile fiber for over €100 million

Inditex and Infinited Fiber Company today announced a new partnership with the shared goal of advancing new and innovative technologies towards textile-to-textile circular loop. At the core of this partnership is Inditex´s three-year commitment to buy 30% of Infinited Fiber Company's annual future production volume of Infinna™, a textile fiber that can be created from 100% textile waste –a deal valued at more than €100 million.

• This purchasing commitment is significant for Infinited Fiber Company’s plans to scale up its recycling technology through its first large-capacity factory

• As part of this collaboration, Zara has today launched a capsule collection using this innovative high-quality fiber, which is created from clothing waste

This purchase commitment is significant for Infinited Fiber’s plans to scale up its recycling technology through its first large-capacity factory, which it expects to begin operations in 2024, when Inditex is due to start to buying Infinna™.

This collaboration is part of Inditex’s Sustainability Innovation Hub, an open-innovation platform that works alongside start-ups, academic institutions and tech centers to promote and scale innovative initiatives for new materials, technologies and processes that reduce the environmental footprint of fashion products and help in the advance towards more sustainable and circular solutions. Infinited Fiber has developed an innovative solution to turn cellulose-rich materials, such as worn-out, cotton-rich clothes, into a new trademarked fiber called Infinna™ that looks and feels like cotton and can be recycled again in the same process together with other textile waste. With this new fiber, Inditex will be able to continue to minimize the use of virgin materials and advance the move towards a more circular model of clothing production.

As part of this agreement, Zara is also launching today this first-of-its-kind capsule, with most of its materials produced from clothing sourced in collaboration with the Spanish NGO Cáritas, Zara’s clothing collection program partner. The collection embraces Zara’s fashion-forward styles along with Infinited Fiber Company’s innovative textile waste regeneration technology. On May 12th, the capsule will be available worldwide on Zara.com.

“We truly believe innovation is key for the competitive circular future of the fashion industry, which is why we are actively working to find solutions, and searching for new partnerships, processes and materials to achieve textile-to-textile recycling. Collaborating with others in new innovative initiatives -such as Next Generation fibers like Infinna™ - is vital to carrying out the transformation our industry needs”, said Javier Losada, Inditex Chief Sustainability Officer.

Petri Alava, CEO and cofounder of Infinited Fiber Company, said: “Inditex is one of the world’s largest fashion retailers, and this deal is a significant step towards realizing our ambition of making Infinna™ a mainstream textile material of the future. It is such a joy to see the beautifully designed pieces created from sustainably produced upcycled fiber now brought to market for the enjoyment of Zara’s customers. They are yet another demonstration of the versatility of Infinna™, and of what can be achieved when great technology is combined with great design. We look forward to continuing the collaboration with Inditex to make textile circularity an everyday reality.”