There are a few different types of recycled fabric clothing manufacturers in the world. And as you’ll learn in this post, most of them are in the activewear, outerwear, and swimwear sectors. That’s because of the nature of the garments this part of our industry produces.
Recycled Fabric Clothing Manufacturers: What to Look For
The majority of the recycled fabrics in our industry are found as synthetic yarns, such as those used in swimwear fabrics. That’s because the raw materials used to make synthetic yarns originate from the plastics industry as post-industrial and post-consumer waste.
Given the massive negative impact plastics have on our environment, there’s a big effort around the world to try to reduce the amount of new plastics we use. Recycled plastic fabric manufacturers collect plastic waste (ex: water bottles), recycle it, turn it into new yarns, and then manufacture their fabrics.
It’s not all synthetics though. There are some textile manufacturers that make recycled fabrics from natural yarns, such as recycled Tencel™.
To Give You An Example
One of the world’s top recycled natural fabrics is made by a company called Lenzing. Their trademarked yarn called REFIBRA™, is made from upcycled Cotton scraps that’s mixed with their signature TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers.
Here’s what Lenzing says about it on their website:
“The pioneering REFIBRA™ technology involves upcycling cotton scraps from garment production. These cotton scraps are transformed into cotton pulp. A substantial proportion – up to one third – of this is added to wood pulp, and the combined raw material is transformed to produce new virgin TENCEL™ Lyocell fibers to make fabrics and garments.”
Why Are Synthetic Yarns More Commonly Recycled?
It should be noted that, 100% natural fabrics tend to break down in landfills much more quickly than other fabrics. Often decomposing into the environment with little to no residue.
Whereas synthetic yarns start their lives as part of the oil and petrochemical industries. They don’t biodegrade for hundreds of years, leaving a trail of harmful chemicals that causes a host of environmental damage and climate change.
Additionally, it’s still technologically difficult to separate natural fabrics from synthetic fibres in the fabric recycling process. Hence, there aren’t as many fabric recycling facilities that handle natural fabrics. Yet!
To Give You An Example
With so much plastic in our environment, recycled fabric clothing manufacturers like CM Garmindo focus on manufacturing swimwear. We import an abundance of options from the top certified recycled fabric manufacturers in the world.
Synthetic fabric manufacturers can more easily source plastic waste such as fishing nets in reefs and plastic bottles in rives and oceans or post-consumer waste from landfills.
The outcome is superb!
A company named Unifi makes one of the best recycled swimwear fabric yarns, called Repreve®. This yarn is predominantly made from plastic bottles. So far, they’ve helped recycle over 30 Billion plastic bottles!
Want To Learn More About Recycled Fabric Clothing Manufacturers?
Whether you’re making recycled fabric bikinis from Repreve® or recycled fabric tShirts from Refibra™, CM Garmindo can help. We import / source over 1,000 different fabrics each year making us one of Asia’s best recycled fabric clothing manufacturers.
It’s important to keep in mind that fabrics are made with certain garments in mind. All fabrics are not suitable for all garments.
But we can help you choose. Send us a message; let’s discuss your reccyled clothing brand, your collection of styles, and the types of recycled fabrics you’d like to explore.
