Beximco and Recover™ implement a circular, sustainable system

Sights set on Bangladesh

Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest apparel exporter of ready-made garments. And due to the country’s available infrastructure and new technology initiatives, the number of exports is expected to keep growing. In 2019, Bangladesh produced approximately 577,000?tons of waste from its ready-made garment factories and fabrics?mills, according to an estimate from Circular Fashion Partnership (CFP). Of this, 250,000 tons was 100% pure cotton waste, making the country one of the largest cotton waste-producing regions in the world.

Not only is Bangladesh one of the primary producers of textile waste but is also one of the biggest importers of textile fiber. In 2019 alone, the country brought in 1.63 million tons of staple cotton fiber worth $3.5 billion. Due to its key role in the fashion production industry, Recover knew they had to get in on the ground level.

The sustainable approach

Luckily, Recover has found sustainably-minded allies, like Bangladesh-based conglomerate, Beximco, who are determined to create a circular future for fashion.

One of the global leaders in sustainable fashion manufacturing, Beximco puts sustainability and circularity at the heart of its operations. The company has laid out a direct approach to solve the growing quantity of waste through its 3 Ps: Planet, People and Profit.

Some of its sustainable practices include:

• Using advanced manufacturing and supply chain management solutions
  

• Digitalizing design proposals to reduce waste of physical samples
  

• Employing environmentally-friendly practices to reduce water usage by up to 70%
  

• Reusing 30% of its water capacity for irrigation and farming
  

• Partnering with us at Recover™ on a new program by using recycled raw materials
  

Beximco and Recover™: a strategic alliance

Both Beximco and Recover™ are two key players at different stages of the textile value chain with decades of experience in each of our respective fields.

As a leading materials science company and global producer of low-impact, high-quality recycled cotton fiber and fiber blends, Recover's goal is to expand the use of its proprietary technology so they can close the loop on fashion. And thanks to partnerships and backing by STORY3 Capital and Goldman Sachs, they have been able to set their sights on global expansion, opening new facilities in key textile hubs around the world in strategic locations like Central America, Brazil, Turkey, India, and Southeast Asia.

Beximco’s commitment to sustainability coupled with its impressive presence in Bangladesh made it the perfect partner. By combining the expertise, they are taking an important step towards solving Bangladesh’s textile waste problem and establishing a closed-loop industry.

Circular solutions to scale

Thanks to the alliance with Beximco, Recover has been able to build a super-hub in Bangladesh – the largest textile recycling facility in the country. Strategically placed in Dhaka, this facility is close to both the supply and demand as well as the textile waste, reducing the carbon impact of transportation, lowering the environmental impact, and minimizing the fiber import dependency.

The facility comes fully equipped with Recover's proprietary machinery, as well as RColorBlend installation -- the innovative technology that provides fiber blends with color, with a lower environmental impact.

The partnership also allows Beximco to offer the market the highest-quality denim, woven and knit fabrics made with 5-30% RCS/GRS verified recycled fiber; a completely transparent supply chain; and sustainable fabric production techniques in dyeing and finishing.

Taking circularity mainstream

Recover is making this collaboration mainstream. They have already collaborated on key brand collaborations, including the sustainable T-shirt collection launched by Fruit of the Loom®. This collaboration is key to demonstrating how a material science ingredients brand and an established fashion brand can work together to make the circular economy mainstream. Find out more about this collaboration here:

https://recoverfiber.com/collaborations/fruit-of-the-loom