A foremost producer of sustainable, premium recycled cotton fiber and cotton fiber blends, Recover, has declared new funding from Story3 Capital to accelerate its operations and to raise its output over the next 5 years to ensure a close the loop on fashion.
With a 70-year long tradition in textile recycling technology, the company announced it will attain its goals on growing its output to 200,000 metric tons of recycled fiber per year by 2025 through a strategic partnership with Story3 Capital.
The company said that substantial investment, resources and best-in-class operators received from Story3 Capital will allow Recover to attain its growth initiatives through expansion to meet the growing demand from the global fashion industry.
Recover’s expanded output will save nearly 3 trillion liters of water every year that is equal to the 3 billion people’s drinking water on an annual basis.
Most significantly, this will also let 500,000 acres of land to be directed away from cotton cultivation for other uses.
“My family has been innovating for generations to perfect the Recover process, which is primed to be fashion industry’s biggest resource in meeting its sustainability goals,” said Alfredo Ferre, Chief Executive of Recover in a press statement.
Alfredo Ferre added, “We are proud to offer potential partners the highest quality and lowest-impact fiber available in today’s market, and we look forward to increasing our sustainability footprint thanks to our partnership with Story3 Capital.”
Recover receives “significant investment” from Story3 Capital to expand output
Peter Comisar, founder and chief executive of Story3 Capital, added: “Recover is uniquely positioned to be the global sustainability leader in cotton recycling by acting as an agent of change within the industry, and quickly becoming the gold standard in closing the loop on fashion.”
Ben Malka, operating partner at Story3 Capital and executive chairman of Recover, said: “We immediately saw the potential to impact the pent-up demand for recycled cotton by scaling production and working with the industry to innovate and migrate to Recover Fibres.”
Recover recycles industrial and pre-and post-consumer cotton waste, replacing the need to cultivate cotton, limiting the use of dyes through its ColorBlend system, and reducing textile landfill waste.
The premium recycled cotton fibre from textile waste is ultimately spun into yarn by supply chain partners and transformed into finished apparel garments and home textiles. Recover has supplied its recycled cotton and cotton blend fibres to brands including Wrangler, H&M Group, Tommy Hilfiger, G-Star, The Northface, Billabong and Bonobo.
Recover’s recycled cotton fibre has the lowest environmental impact score in the world, according to the Higg Material Sustainability Index.
It is hoped that this investment will further support its sustainable initiatives, as Recover explains that the adverse environmental impact of the fashion industry is “staggering, and the industry is lagging behind its climate action commitments and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.
Cotton is one of the most damaging crops grown on earth, requiring large amounts of water, pesticides, and land. According to a recent study, one T-shirt requires 2,700 litres of water, equivalent to what an average person drinks in three years.
