Cotton Inc's Go Green bags Recycling Innovator Award

04 Jul '14

2 min read

Three leading international recycling organizations gathered in Miami, Florida for the first-ever international conference on the used clothing recycling industry. Nearly 100 members of the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART), the Bureau of International Recycling’s Textiles Division (BIR), and the Council for Textile Recycling (CTR) held the first International Textile Recycling Summit (ITRS) at the Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach. Conference attendees were there to discuss industry trends, concerns, and emerging markets.

In addition to the conference seminars and panel discussions the organizations presented the Leadership in Sustainable Apparel - Recycling Innovator Award to Cotton Inc. for their Blue Jeans Go Green program. Blue Jeans Go Green Co-director of Strategic Alliances, Marissa Barlin was on-hand to accept the award.

“Blue Jeans Go Green and Cotton Inc. are honored to be the first recipients of this award,” said Barlin. “Since the program began in 2006 the denim collected has not only been used by builders and home-owners, we have also been able to provide grants of the insulation to civic institutions and to Habitat for Humanity programs throughout the U.S.”

Since its inception, Blue Jeans Go Green has diverted more than 600 tons of denim out of landfills. To date, more than 2-million square feet of Ultratouch denim home insulation has been generated from the denim recovered by the Blue Jeans go Green program. Ultratouch home insulation is manufactured by SMART member-company Bonded Logic of Chandler, AZ.

Panel discussions held during ITRS included discussions of the global sustainability of the clothing industry and reuse and recycling as seen from the perspective of clothing manufacturers and retailers. Other panel discussions focused on the challenges of the core industry of used clothing collection, reclaimed wipers and fiber conversion and global trends, and innovations in the used clothing/textile recycling industry.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s most recent report on municipal solid waste, 20.44 billion pounds of clothing and footwear was discarded in 2012. An additional 2.58 billion pounds of towels, sheets and pillowcases were also thrown away. The 2012 EPA report indicates only 14.4% of clothing and footwear products were recovered (recycled) and only 17.8% of towels, sheets and pillowcases were recovered.1 Of the clothing, footwear, towels, sheets, and pillowcases that were thrown away, SMART estimates 95% of those items could have been reused or recycled.

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