Textile Insight

Saya Recycling Ingenuity S aya provides solutions for the industrial waste problem in the textile industry by creating new uses for discards. Saya Rscuw is made from recycled scrap and cutting waste from garment manufacturing. This product reduces waste by 30% per yard by recycling cutting scraps and overstock rolls of fabric, which has historically ended up in landfills or stored overtime in warehouses. Saya's Rscuw Raw takes efforts one step further. e product is craed of recycled fabric cutting scrap and colored PET bottles, while retaining an original hue. Without bleaching and redyeing, the effort is more energy-efficient to further reduce carbon footprint. e resulting knit or woven fabric carries a unique heathered effect in shades of grey to nearly black. Saya 365 is the brand's recycled polyester fiber made of 100% post- consumer recycled PET (rPET) from plastic bottles. e Saya 365 fiber is produced using proprietary mechanical recycling and chemical recycling processes at its facilities in China, Japan, Philippines, ailand and Vietnam. "You achieve better color con- sistency, stability and whiteness, thanks to the proprietary seven stage filtration," said Jack Chen, head of research and develop- ment for Saya, which includes a five-stage sorting and two-stage purification process resulting in batch optimized flakes and pel- lets ready to be transformed into performance fibers. "e dyeing consistency inevitably provides the best energy saving indirectly (as well as time and money) be- cause this will cause less re-dye and reprocessing for better grade yield in later stages," he further explained. As for the melting process, bottles go through temperatures of almost 400 degrees Fahrenheit, which removes most potential virus and bacteria that may remain aer the recycling process. Saya's proprietary filtration process ensures all yarns meet European Union REACH (2020), bluesign, and Oeko Tex 100 standards for heavy metal and other harmful RSL and residue. Plastics are certified by Global Recycling Standard (GRS) and OceanCycle. Robust Recycling Saya partners with over 40 rec yclers globally to ensure continuous access to recycled used bottles. With many producers of recycled polyester facing challenges sourcing recycled PET bottles and flake due to import restrictions, Saya repurposes over 100,000 tons of plastic bottles each year (equivalent to over 75 billion bottles) and has been able to ensure uninterrupted access with its flake-to-chip facilities on- site at bottle collection facilities in Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. These facilities turn recycled PET flake into chips that are shipped to yarn facilities for extrusion into high quality yarns. Saya also has a robust tracking program to ensure GRS 4.0 certified content, using a unique anti-forgery tracer in the final rPET fiber. Saya also features two special- ized recycling programs. Saya Coastal is a targeted cleanup program taking discarded plas- tic bottles in coastal regions that would otherwise float out to sea and use them for fibers. Plastic waste is a serious problem in our oceans, with over 8 million met- ric tons entering our water each year. Saya USA is a collection of recycled fibers manufactured in its Lake City, South Carolina facility for companies interested in a USA-based fiber program with full transparency and traceability. Saya is dedicated to improving processes and quality for current recycling technology, while at the same time, anticipating future needs and opportunities. Saya continues to pursue and foster close partnerships with customers to co-create solutions enabling brands to stay ahead of fast-moving market trends and improve the environmental performance of their products. Raising the sustainability bar within the supply chain benefits all. n ADVERTISEMENT SAYA continues to perfect the process of renewing water bottles into yarns for multiple uses. Discarded water bottles are renewed through our proprietary, five-stage filtration process which are followed by two stages of purificaion for guaranteed safety and purity. 5-STAGE FILTRATION 2-STAGE PURIFICATION 5-STAGE FILTRATION 2 STAGE PURIFICATION MAGNETIC PHYSICAL WASHING CHEMICAL WASHING SPECTRUM EDDY CURRENT FLOAT AIR

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