#Sustainability

2019-09-19

Clothing made from recycled down and fabric made with polyester fibres from recycled plastic bottles

On the occasion of the LifeWear Day consumer exhibition taking place this year in London, Japanese global apparel retailer UNIQLO and Toray Industries today announce the joint development of down clothing employing reclaimed down and DRY-EX apparel incorporating fabric from polyester fibres made with recycled PET bottles. This new initiative, part of a longstanding strategic partnership between the two companies, will contribute to sustainability by giving consumers access to merchandise that optimises the use of valuable resources.

New Joint Initiative from UNIQLO and Toray Optimises use of Valuable Resources

Commenting on today’s announcement, Tadashi Yanai, UNIQLO Founder and Chairman, President & CEO of Fast Retailing, said, “UNIQLO is committed to improving the sustainability of society. To this end, we will soon begin our new initiative with Toray that promotes the use of recycled materials. Through such an important partnership, we can continue to offer high-performance, high-quality, and sustainable clothing to all customers around the world.”

Akihiro Nikkaku, President of Toray Industries, Inc., said, “At Toray we challenge ourselves to find solutions to global social issues with our belief that “materials can change our lives”. By promoting businesses that contribute to sustainability together with our strategic partner UNIQLO, we aim to create new value and realise a prosperous society through LifeWear.”

New items made from recycled down

UNIQLO stores will collect used Ultra Light Down items from customers. A new Toray-developed system will extract material from Ultra Light Down pieces, to be cleansed for use in new down merchandise. Collections* will start later in September this year initially only in Japan, and some down products from the 2020 Fall/Winter season will employ this recycled material.

Conventionally, the stuffing in duvets and other objects incorporating down is manually removed. Such processes are arduous with Ultra Light Down items because of their thin shells and complex construction. By developing special extraction machinery, Toray has fully automated cutting, stirring and separating, and recovery, for 50-fold the process capacity of manual processes, thus greatly alleviating workloads.

New DRY-EX pieces incorporating polyester from recycled PET bottles

DRY-EX is a revolutionary material that quickly wicks away sweat and moisture. From 2020 Spring/Summer UNIQLO will begin to introduce DRY-EX items of clothing that incorporate high-value-added polyester fibres derived from reclaimed PET bottles.

This is a milestone because, while fibres made from reclaimed plastic bottles have been commercially available for some time, it has been hard to produce fibres featuring special cross-sections and fine fibres, owing to contaminants in PET bottles. Another challenge to address has been that plastic bottles yellow as they age.

Toray’s contaminant filtering technology overcomes these issues, making it possible to manufacture fibres whose features are commensurate with those of fibres from plastic made directly from petrochemical feedstock, including those with special cross-sections. Another advance is Toray’s Recycling Identification System, which enhances reliability by ensuring that fibres derived from plastic bottles are traceable.

UNIQLO and Toray will keep leveraging their strengths to foster sustainable social progress.

*Such collections will differ from donations made at UNIQLO stores of lightly used clothing that is distributed to needy people around the world.

Toray Industries and MAS Holdings announce Joint Venture in Odisha, India

Toray Industries (H.K.) Ltd., has officially entered a joint venture with South Asia’s largest apparel manufacturer MAS Holdings, marking a unique opportunity to enhance the two companies’ supply chain capabilities and pursue product manufacturing within and for the fast-growing Indian market. The joint venture, operating under the name Toray MAS Apparel India, will see the establishment of a new manufacturing facility at the MAS Apparel Park Bhuinpur in Odisha, India, which is currently under development.

Updated supply chain taxonomy advances apparel alignment

The apparel alliance (Apparel Impact Institute, Cascale, Textile Exchange, and ZDHC Foundation) today announced the launch of Version 2 of the Supply Chain Taxonomy, an updated harmonized framework designed to improve consistency, transparency, and collaboration across the textile, clothing, leather, and footwear (TCLF) sectors of the broader apparel industry.

ITMA 2027 receives strong industry response

ITMA 2027 has unveiled its sector plan, marking progress towards the 2027 edition as planning continues ahead of the show. The ITMA 2027 sector plan covers 12 halls at the Messegelände Hannover venue, spanning over 180,000 square metres, and features 20 sectors of the textile and garment making processes, from spinning to finishing, software and automation, recycling, and fibres, yarns and fabrics.

Heimtextil expands Bed, Bath & Living with new ‘Comfort & Connect’ area

Heimtextil is expanding its product range for Bed, Bath & Living in a targeted manner: ‘Comfort & Connect‘ is creating a new meeting place in the foyer of Hall 5.1 for high-quality bed, bath and lifestyle collections. Following on from ‘Sleep & Meet‘, this is now the second area where Heimtextil is further refining its offering for exhibitors and buyers. The new area brings together established brands, high-profile returning exhibitors and international buyers in a central location with easy access.

Business situation weakens slightly, but the industry stays cautiously optimistic

The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) has published the results of its 39th Global Textile Industry Survey (GTIS), conducted from 14 to 22 July 2026 among companies along the entire global textile value chain. Worldwide, 10% of participants rated their business situation as good, 53% as satisfactory and 37% as bad — a balance of -26pp, down from -17pp in May but still well above the 2023 lows. All regions are now in negative territory, from South Asia at -3pp to North & Central America at -58pp.

Ministry of Industry Delegation visits NatureWorks’ second global manufacturing site at Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex

NatureWorks Asia Pacific Limited welcomed a high-level delegation led by Mr. Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Industry, to its manufacturing site at the Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex (NBC). The visit follows the successful inauguration of the site on April 29, 2026, and highlights the role of public-private collaboration in advancing Thailand’s sustainable industrial development and bioeconomy ambitions.