A four-year collaborative project to increase the amount of post-consumer recycled cotton in jeans sold in the Netherlands, the Denim Deal, is now looking to replicate the concept on a larger scale.  

Like many sustainability and circularity projects, the Denim Deal fell short of its stated goal of selling 3 million jeans made with 20% recycled post-consumer cotton (POCR) content in the Netherlands. Pending the release of data for 2023, the final year of the four-year programme, 1.1 million such jeans were commercialised in the country between 2020 and 2022. Considering the size of the Dutch market, where 1 million jeans are sold annually, this is no small feat.

The Denim Deal ‘compliant’ products represent just over a third of all jeans sold in the country. Not bad.

But looking beyond the borders of the Netherlands, over the three-year period the Denim Deal’s 50+ members manufactured and marketed 6.5 million jeans having 20% post-consumer recycled cotton. That is more than double the original target and does not yet include data for 2023. So, unlike many sustainability and circularity projects, the Denim Deal has in fact over-achieved its goal, making it a unique and resounding success.

The positive impact of the programme need not only be measured by the number of jeans made with 20% post-consumer recycled cotton. It took a pragmatic approach, initially setting the bar at 5% with the aim of gradually increasing this baseline and working towards 20%, which it wants to make a new industry standard.

“Incorporating 20% post-consumer recycled cotton into denim fabrics is no longer a problem,” says Besim Özek, Bossa’s strategy and business development director. “It is a continuous learning process, and we have 15 years of experience in recycling cotton. Pre-consumer waste is easier, but post-consumer is growing, and the whole point of the Denim Deal was to use post-consumer waste.”

Learnings & takeaways

“The Denim Deal was quite unique because it brought together all the stakeholders, the collectors, mills, brands and the policy makers,” said Nicolas Prophte, head of PVH Europe’s Denim Centre at the time, at a press conference presenting the first conclusions of the end of the programme in Amsterdam last October. It is one of his key takeaways: “We need them all,” he says of the collaborative and non-competitive public-private framework. The dynamics of the working groups have proved successful, and he stresses the importance of coordinating directly with policy-makers, whose actions can have real impact. “It has been a big win,” he says, “but we must now keep the momentum going.”

Throughout the programme, the many companies involved got to know each other and better understand their different business models. “The jeans-making side of the industry has little knowledge of how collectors, sorters or fiberisers work,” says Mr Prophte. Romain Narcy, Ereks Blue Matters board member and partner, agrees that bringing collectors and manufacturers together was enlightening. “The Denim Deal put people from all these different trades around the same table, and we learned that we all speak a different language: a garment-maker counts in pieces, a mill in tonnes and a collector in kilos,” he points out, highlighting one of the many challenges in setting up a reverse supply chain. 

Commenting on the technical intricacies of the mechanical recycling of used cotton into new products, Mr Özek says a key achievement has been improved productivity due to better understanding of the importance of the raw material. “We found that in the process of machine shredding, it is not efficiency that counts, but rather quality. It is the difference between obtaining cotton fibres that are 17mm vs 30mm long.” New machines were developed to Bossa’s specifications, improving quality and leading to higher sales. The economics of recycling, he says, are in favour of pre-consumer waste, as he estimates that its cost, in the range of $1-1.2, is the same as the price of virgin cotton. In production, however, he notes that there is some loss of efficiency in spinning, dyeing and finishing. But “post-consumer waste is a different story,” he says. The pre-processing phases of turning used jeans back into fibres are a major challenge.

“Polyester contamination remains our biggest problem in post-consumer waste.” To avoid the presence of polyester sewing threads, the top and seams of a pair of jeans need to be cut away, which removes roughly 40% of the original denim pants. These sections will therefore not be recycled. These extra steps are said to make POCR cotton fibres about 10% more expensive than virgin cotton.

Going global 

Nicolas Prophte and Romain Narcy now want to take the Denim Deal to the next level and have launched the Denim Deal 2.0. “During the first leg of this journey, we have seen that the Denim Deal’s impact goes far beyond the Netherlands and the project’s initial signatories,” says Mr Prophte, who is now a board member of the Denim Deal 2.0’s steering committee. He insists that the denim industry is ahead of other apparel sectors in its uptake of recycled cotton. “But if we want to have a bigger impact on the industry, we need to do better than recycling just 1% of end-of-life clothes,” points out Mr Narcy. And it is time, they feel, to set a new target: to make 1 billion Denim Deal compliant pieces by 2030. 

Romain Narcy has founded a new consultancy, Rematters (see Inside Denim issue 12), to assist companies in scaling the recycling of post-consumer goods into new textiles. “We provide engineering services, pre-sorting recommendations, and all the expertise needed to make it a success,” he says. Mechanical recycling is the best scenario for denim. Mixed fibre products may need to be diverted to chemical recycling facilities. “The goal is to send clothing and fabric waste to the best solution. Textile-to-textile recycling is ideal, but it is also possible to develop other products such as insulation material,” he says.

The new Denim Deal builds on the learning acquired during the first one. Above all, “we will focus on a pragmatic expansion based on the reality of the supply chain,” says Mr Prophte. It retains the baseline of making 20% POCR content an industry standard and collaboration between public and private organisations. “This is essential, as we have seen that it works in the Netherlands,” he says.

To achieve its new goal, the Denim Deal 2.0 will seek to set up recycling hubs in all major jeans-making regions. “Turkey is obviously a good recycling hub for European waste. We have proof of concept thanks to the work of the Dutch Denim Deal,” says Mr Narcy. For Europe, he says it should not be difficult to expand to Germany and France and create a network with companies based in Turkey or Tunisia. In addition to the EMEA zone, the Americas, Brazil, APAC and India and Bangladesh are short-listed for future hubs. In the United States, the team is already in talks with the state of California. A hub between California, New York and Mexico is not inconceivable. Brazil, which has a large local denim market and many big mills, could also create a similar ecosystem, suggests Mr Prophte. Discussions have started in the country to see if there is an appetite from local brands and mills, and engage administrations as well. “We will adapt to the context of each country,” says Mr Prophte, and this may include non-governmental organisations.      The same thinking can be applied in Asia. Its manufacturing and recycling hubs will be necessary to reach the 1 billion target by 2030, he notes, adding that 1 billion pieces is only 20% of the global jeans market.

The Denim Deal 2.0 has already begun to connect the dots globally and is also ready to adapt and let each hub grow in coherence with its local infrastructure. Cotton-rich waste is not only found in old jeans but also in bed linens and towels from the hospitality industry. Thanks to learning from the first Denim Deal experience, the new team believes it has the network and the expertise to develop fabric from waste. For Mr Prophte, “the industry will follow, that is not a problem. Policy-makers are on our page. Now we need to stimulate brands and demand.”

The many stakeholders of the initial Dutch Denim Deal’s steering committee, speaking at a conference in Amsterdam last October. From left to right Romain Narcy (Ereks Blue Matters), Nicolas Prophte (PVH Europe), Besim Özek (Bossa), Miriam van de Kamp (in charge of the circular economy, Dutch government), Marten Boels (representing the city of Amsterdam) and Jan Lamme (Lamme/Cibutex). 
Photo: WTP

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