From the Sector

Salvation Army charity shops have won two major awards from the Charity Retail Association for Outstanding Charity Retailer of the Year, and Environmental and Sustainability at the CRA Annual Conference held at the Harrogate Convention Centre on 26th June 2024.

This is the second time the charity has won the Outstanding Charity Retailer of the Year Award in the past four years - winning it outright in 2022 and 2024, and also being shortlisted in 2021 and 2023.

The Environmental and Sustainability Award sets out specific criteria that organisations must demonstrate, including the introduction of green policies, and new ways of dealing with textile recycling.

Both award categories focused on retail initiatives and key achievements over the previous 12 months. SATCoL recently announced its highest trading results and a record-breaking donation to its parent charity of over £11.2m.

In 2022 SATCoL launched its 5-Year Strategic Plan under the theme of ‘Dare to CARE’ – this included new performance measures for People, Planet and Profit. CARE represents SATCoL's values of Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Equality. The company continues to invest in its donation centres and refurbishing more high street shops – 10 new donation centres opened and 9 high street shops were refurbished in the year 2022-23.

SATCoL has also invested heavily in innovations including FibersortTM, an automatic sorting process that identifies and sorts second-hand garments by fibre type, and Project Re:claimTM, a commercial-scale polyester recycling plant designed to recycle end-of-life textiles. Project Re:claim is a joint venture with Project Plan B.

Freudenberg Performance Materials Apparel launches the complete RCY 99xx series recycled polyester (rPET) shirt interlinings. This product line serves as a sustainable counterpart to Freudenberg's renowned 95xx series, which has been a staple in the industry for over twenty years.

The 95xx series, celebrated for its unique bi-elastic properties, has earned its place as one of Freudenberg Apparel's most sought-after shirt interlining ranges.

Now, taking a leap towards sustainability, Freudenberg Apparel introduces the complete RCY 99xx series. Crafted from rPET, these bi-elastic interlinings are designed to complement an array of contemporary fabrics, including pure cotton, T/C, flannel, oxford, cotton & linen blends, seersucker, jersey, and all types of stretch knits. The RCY 99xx series not only preserves the natural hand-feel, texture, and shape of these fabrics but also infuses a fresh creative dimension into shirt design.

The RCY 99xx series boasts an weight range of 30-150 g/m2, offering versatility for a diverse spectrum of shirt styles, from men’s casual shirts and women's blouses to polo shirts, sports shirts, and denim shirts. This adaptability ensures that designers and manufacturers have the flexibility to meet the evolving demands of the market while upholding sustainability principles.

Circ^®, a US-based textile-to-textile recycling innovator, announced the launch of Circ^®-Ready, an exclusive community of global supply-chain partners who have demonstrated their ability to make high-quality, better-for-the-planet solutions for fashion brands using Circ materials. The inaugural Circ-Ready partners include AGI Denim, Foshan Chicley Textile Co., Ltd., Giotex, Marubeni Corporation, MAS Holdings, PYRATEX®, Selenis, SHINJINTEX, Soorty Denimkind, Tainan Spinning Co., Ltd., and Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI).

The Circ-Ready community is a selected group of partners who have a proven positive track record and commitment to working with Circ recycled products and have been individually evaluated for industry success. Circ-Ready partners work alongside the Circ team of experts to adequately test and utilize Circ fibers, exceeding quality standards from end to end. To promote transparency and ensure the integrity of Circ products, each Circ-Ready partner provides a commitment to relevant best-in-class certifications for recycled products.

Consisting of processors, manufacturers, and other vital industry players across tiers 1-4, each Circ-Ready partner has undergone a testing process to replace virgin inputs with Circ’s products, proving the ability to utilize Circ products in their existing operations and produce premium materials as a result. Being a member of the Circ-Ready community provides partners the opportunity to work with pilot-stage Circ products, receive ongoing support from Circ’s technical experts, and be among the first recommended by Circ when brands and partners seek to utilize Circ material.

Circ is a leader in blended textile-to-textile recycling, a known challenge for the industry. Each year, tens of millions of tons of polycotton textile waste is landfilled or burned because existing recycling solutions cannot separate the plastic from the natural fiber and recover both materials. Circ’s innovative recycling technology is the only platform to successfully separate polycotton blended textile waste and recover both cellulosic and synthetic fibers. Circ’s primary fiber outputs are regenerated Circ Lyocell and Circ Polyester from textile waste.