wear2wear™-Partner

Aarden is the founder of the wear2wear consortium and the inspiration behind the development of tailored suits within a closed loop. Since 2010, the Netherlands-based company has been committed to the goal of significantly raising the awareness of sustainable clothing manufactured within a closed textile loop and offering it to the company clothing and workwear segment. The core business revolves around sustainable tailored suits, wedding suits and jackets. In cooperation with Schoeller, Aarden has already developed recyclable workwear textiles with the aim of creating 100 percent recyclability while taking into account wearing comfort and established safety requirements. In 2015, Aarden (former DutchSpirit) was selected as one of the top five Netherlands companies in the field of sustainability within the Circular Icon project. Aarden continues to work on innovative technologies for the reutilization of textiles that to date have not been recyclable.

PrimaLoft, Inc. is an advanced material technology company based in Latham, New York with offices in Munich, Germany and Xiamen, China. PrimaLoft is the world leader in the research and innovative development of high performance insulations and fabrics. PrimaLoft delivers innovative products that are used by the top global outdoor and fashion brands, as well as in home furnishings, work wear, hunting and military applications. PrimaLoft® insulation was originally developed for the U.S. army as a water-resistant, synthetic alternative to down. In the years since meeting that challenge and setting the benchmark for synthetic insulation, PrimaLoft has developed a full portfolio of high-performance insulations and fabrics designed to perform where you need them most. Backed by a history of sustainably conscious innovations, PrimaLoft’s industry leadership includes a Relentlessly Responsible™ commitment to pushing both performance and sustainability forward. PrimaLoft is active in sustainable textile production through partnerships with the bluesign® system, the International OEKO-TEX® Association, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index and the Global Recycled Standard.

The “Textile Screw” is a patented Climatex® technology. Like in the field of mechanics, the “Textile Screw” connects various underlying materials and can be loosened again using a globally-established process. Separating nonhomogenous textiles into single-source materials thus becomes a reality. Relying on innovative technologies from the yarn and fabric manufacturing industry, nonrecyclable materials can be removed cost-effectively and with minimal energy consumption and the sorting and separation process optimized over the long-term.

As an interdisciplinary research institute of the ETH Domain, Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, conducts cutting-edge materials and technology research. Empa’s R&D activities focus on meeting the requirements of industry and the needs of society, and thus link applications-oriented research to the practical implementation of new ideas. As a result, Empa is capable of providing its partners with customized solutions that enhance their innovative edge and international competitiveness. Within Empa, its Technology and Society Laboratory (TSL) creates and transfers knowledge supporting such a transition by analysing (e.g. with the support of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology) novel materials & emerging technology applications with a focus on associated material & energy stocks and flows; by evaluating them with regard to environment constraints and societal needs; and by providing guidance for designing more sustainable materials, technologies and socio-technical systems.

> Life Cycle Assessment Report

CWS develops individual workwear collections in close cooperation with partners in the trades industry, industrial environments and the service industry. Each clothing article is tailored to the needs of specific occupational groups and conforms to current norms and safety standards. All collections are available through the sustainable and convenient rental service from CWS. The service ranges from pickup, washing and if necessary repair or replacement, to quality checks and delivery, including direct in the wearer’s storage compartment at work.  With its workwear collection, CWS places special emphasis on superior quality, a comfortable feel with extensive freedom of movement, functional details, modern designs and a wide selection of colors. The collections, which can be easily combined, are verifiably skin-friendly and conform to the ÖKO-TEX® 100 standard.

The company’s production facility includes a complex for manufacturing smart materials from synthetic fibers and a plant producing natural and blended fabrics. The process of manufacturing covers a complete production cycle, from spinning and weaving and knitting to fabric finishing, which gives materials such properties as fire resistance, wind protection, water repellency and fast drying. BTK features full-cycle garment production facilities (pattern cutting, garmenting and final processing of finished sewn garments with a varying degree of complexity and construction) for the fields workwear, outdoor, everyday business and unique clothes. The vertical integration enables BTK to exercise control over the entire value chain to ensure top-notch quality and timely delivery. Unique technologies of finishing and modern equipment allow BTK to create innovative fabrics and materials used in production of professional clothing for various business industries and government institutions.

CWS symbolizes the benefits of resource-efficient and sustainable reusable solutions. With the rental service, the issue of sustainability is an important aspect of the daily business at CWS. After selecting from a wide assortment of workwear and protective clothing, customers receive deliveries on a regular basis. That means clothing that is always clean and fits properly, repaired or exchanged if necessary and returned to the original wearer after a quality check. Sewn-in RFID chips ensure there are no delivery mistakes. With all of its collections and fields of applications, CWS offers consulting services related to industry-specific requirements and legal norm guideline. In the field of personal protective wear, CWS ensures that all current norms and safety requirements are adhered to during the entire timeframe that the clothing is used. Every article of clothing offers superior quality, a comfortable feel with extensive freedom of movement, functional details, a modern design and a wide selection of colors. The collections, which can be easily combined, are verifiably skin-friendly and conform to the ÖKO-TEX® 100 standard.

The company from Bruges (Belgium) took a technology from the space agency NASA to dust all kinds of special clothing with CO₂. Firefighter suits, the fluorescent suits of NMBS workers, motorcycle and diving suits, military clothing, work clothing from well-known companies. During washing the CO₂ penetrates the deep fibers and the membranes without – contrary to washing with water – damaging the properties of the textile. That is not unimportant given the high cost of technical clothing. Moreover, it is a closed circuit and the CO₂ can be reused constantly, without any waste. The Belgian start-up makes a valuable contribution to resource conservation and, thanks to its innovative technology, offers a valuable component in the wear2wear cycle.

All textiles offered through the CWS rental service are washed in the company’s own 43 high-tech laundries across Europe. After all, only professionally cleaned and maintained workwear constantly satisfies all demands and norm guidelines. The CWS laundries are equipped with water- and energy-saving systems and are certified in accordance with international quality, environmental and hygiene management standards. CWS thus carries out its washing and drying operations in a resource-efficient and energy-saving manner, such as reutilizing the laundry water while adhering to hygiene standards. CWS furthermore sorts the textiles according to the respective washing requirements, ensuring a careful washing process and avoiding the use of environmentally-harmful washing additives. The company also emphasizes sustainability with its logistics services by relying on intelligent route planning tools that ensure the products are delivered to the customer via the shortest route. CWS furthermore recycles as much disused material as possible or reutilizes it for other purposes – all in the spirit of the circular economy, which is the focus of the CWS daily business activities.

Texaid was founded in 1978 as a charity-private partnership between six Swiss relief organisations and an entrepreneur. With its headquarters in Switzerland (Canton of Uri) and branches in Germany, Austria, Spain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Morocco and the USA, the company is one of the leading service providers of textile recycling services in Europe. Texaid has extensive know-how in the collection, sorting and recycling of used textiles. The company has consistently developed and expanded its collection, sorting and recycling capacities in recent years, as well as investments in numerous research and development projects. Texaid pursues the vision of closing the textile cycle in the long term.

The vision of this medium-sized, owner-operated company is to ensure that harmful substances and waste no longer end up in the environment. Carl Weiske has managed to optimize the upcycling of used wear2wear textiles so that it’s possible to create a permanent textile recycling loop. The recycled polyester contains fewer harmful substances and features a high level of quality and excellent physical performance. Carl Weiske is a reliable partner in the development and manufacture of polymers, fibers, yarns and textile systems. With an inventive spirit and a passion for innovation, Carl Weiske’s mission is to utilize physical and chemical correlations to the benefit of the textile industry as well.

Carl Weiske is a medium-sized, owner-operated company and a reliable partner in the development and manufacture of polymers, fibers, yarns and textile systems. With an inventive spirit and a passion for innovation, Carl Weiske’s mission is to utilize physical and chemical correlations to the benefit of the textile industry as well. Carl Weiske therefore developed an innovative polyester polymer – GREENCYCLE – that serves as a base material for the wear2wear textile loop and which is made from used textile, production waste and recycled PET bottles. “Waste” is recycled in order to begin a new life cycle and improve resource efficiency. Quality and safety are of the utmost importance in this process. Carl Weiske checks for harmful substances and furthermore guarantees the traceability of the materials that are utilized.

TWD Fibres GmbH is a manufacturer of filament yarns based in Deggendorf (Bavaria) and covers the entire range of filament yarns. With an average annual production capacity of 30.000 tons, TWD Fibres is Germany’s largest producer of polyester and polyamide 6.6 filament yarns. All production and finishing stages (spinning, texturizing, dyeing, twisting and coning) are a 100 percent made in Germany. The yarns are certified on a yearly basis in line with the Oeko-Tex 100 standard, product class 1. With the DIOLEN®ReCircle product, TWD offers fibers made from 100 percent recycled existing PET products. To produce its wide range of colorful yarns, TWD relies on spin dyeing, which saves up to 70 percent of the water resources.