30 • Textile Insight ~ Spring 2024 textileinsight.com
WASTE NOT
"A primary obstacle is designing
garments for recyclability from the
start. A 100% polyester garment can
actually be recycled quite easily, so Unifi
is committed to creating the means for
various industry partners to participate
in a more sustainable textile supply chain.
Other challenges include multiple fiber
types in fabrics. Garment appliques and
certain textile finishing chemistries can
also interfere with the process."
– Meredith Boyd, EVP and chief
product officer, Unifi, Inc.
"Less than 1% of textiles are recycled
back to textiles. We need to get beyond
talking bottles, regardless of where
they are collected, or fishnets to make a
meaningful contribution. Something that
does not get talked about a lot is the effect
of entropy in recycled products. When we
move from a linear to circular economy,
waste is reduced but it comes at the
expense of entropy."
– Ramesh Kesh, SVP Milliken &
Company; business manager of Polartec
"One of the most pressing issues pertains
to the complexity of sourcing feedstock
that is meeting cellulosic specifications
WASTE NOT / QUESTION 2
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST
RECYCLING CHALLENGES?
Denim with REPREVE from Unifi
