Enhancing sustainability in sports, outdoor & intimate apparel

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Enhancing sustainability in sports, outdoor & intimate apparel

EcoLactam® and Swedish jacket brand Didriksons have joined forces to create a pivotal product that showcases the importance of collaboration across the entire value chain to move to more sustainable apparel.

Madelaine Thomas
Hello everyone, and welcome to today's fireside chat. I'm Madeline Thomas, Head of Content here at the World textile Information Network, and today I have two very special guests who have partnered to make real and immediate change when it comes to sustainability in the textile, land, apparel supply chain. So our first guest today is from vibrant part of HSCC, the world's largest producer of nylon sink including EcoLactum, and our second is from Swedish high quality outdoor brand Didriksons. The companies have joined forces to create a pivotal product that showcases the importance of collaboration across the entire value chain to move to a more sustainable apparel. The result of this partnership is the CXi jacket, which is the first garment ever made with EcoLactam, which is a polyamide raw material that bought a carbon footprint 70% lower than that of our regular polyamide. So, this collaboration demonstrates that brands can achieve significant environmental benefits without compromising on product quality.

So, it's with great excitement I introduce our two speakers, Giovanni Henson, Business Development Manager for EcoLactum at Fibrant, and Per Odqvist, Chief Sourcing Officer at Didriksons, they will share their experience in this partnership implementation strategies and discuss how we can make an immediate environmental impact with real scale. So thank you both for joining us before we begin. A quick note to our audience. If you have any questions for the panel, then please submit them using the Q&A function provided on Zoom, and we will address your questions at the end of the session.

So welcome Per. Welcome Giovanni.

Henson: Thank you.

Odqvist: Thank you.

Thomas: Thank you. It's great to have you. So Giovanni, let's start at the beginning with you. How did the partnership between Fibrant and Didriksons come about?

Giovanni Henssen
Well, first. Thank you very much. Everybody who's online for joining. Thanks for the introduction. Maddi, how did the partnership come online? Well, at Fibrant, we are committed to contribute to a more sustainable world. Let me put that first. And as you already said, we are the largest nylon producer worldwide. And together with the fact that we have developed a production process that reduced the footprint of our nylon with up to 70% we can make a true impact on the environment that really, really counts. So we were looking for the bright the right brand partners who share the same values and ambitions as we do, and Didriksons is definitely one of them, but I think Per can explain better what Didriksons stands for. But for us, it was clear that they put sustainability as their top priority, and what's more important, put their words into real action. And this is what we really need, immediate, real action. No more words Per maybe you can pick it up from here.

Madelaine Thomas
Yeah, if you want to kind of go into the vibrant solutions and what attracted to you about it.

Per Odqvist
I mean, for the reasons, sustainability, as Ivana says, is very important. And in our company, we call it responsibility. And then this is actually has been one of our three core values of the company. It's both, of course, the social aspects as well as the environmental aspects. But we also know from consumer research that the quality is one of the key factors why they love us as a brand, but they also say that quality for them is equal with durability of our products, and this is very important to remember. Since we have been focused on durability and long-lasting products, this is also a reason why we choose nylon as our preferred material. I mean, while other brands and switch to polyester for some parts, we keep using a lot of nylon in our products, we also know that nylon is more durable than polyester in general. So even though we have several circular initiatives going on polyester products, we have more material design. We have looking into texture to textile recycling processes, because that's developing fast at the moment, but we wanted to find a better solution and better alternatives and support the development of nylon as well. It's very important for us as a company focusing on durability, and since textile-to-textile recycling for nylon, perhaps will take another decade. You don't, you don't know, at least until it's available in scale. Then we find it like Thomas as a perfect partner, where we can reduce our footprint on nylon already today. And that's important.

Madelaine Thomas
Definitely. So you kind of taking it away from that, that end, end user and end of life, and kind of going back to the beginning and look at how you can do things differently from the start, and you started using EcoLactam on with a small collection. What are the plans to kind of roll out the technology on a wider scale? Because I think that's where we've seen new technologies come and fail. You know, people have used them in kind of capsule collections, and then there's not been that scalability there to implement the technology wider. And why is the EcoLactam different in that way?

Per Odqvist
I mean, first of all, they are one of the largest nylon producer in the world, so meaning that there is scalability possibilities. But, yeah, we started with a pilot project last year, or actually, we continue to work in it in several years, but it was successfully launched into the market last summer. But with this first pilot project, the CXi jacket and that we introduced, that was a project where we combined a lot of our CSR initiatives that gave us the chance to learn and explain, both internally inside our company, as well as externally, the importance of these topics and what we can do. So was a lot of different projects we learned by this process, but we also learned that what impact it can make if you have the good partnership through the whole value chain and to make trustworthy and quick change. I mean, this time, we managed to create a fully transparent value chain with partners and producer in Europe all the way from Textilfabriken to Radici. It's no secret, because it's fully transparent in Italy and FOE fabrics in Sweden. And I mean it's no secret, and we hope that other brands can take advantage of that and use these partners and to do the same, because it's, it's good for the planet, so it's fantastic supply chain. But beside of this, we are also now looking into converting some of our existing volume programmes in nylon together with EcoLactam, in order to scale it up. Because we never want to do a marketing campaign or put a lot of effort in some single project, we want to also be possible to scale it up to make a real impact, and this is what we're looking into to now as well, beside of the pilot projects we made. So this will be started from, from Spring, Summer, 26 season.

Madelaine Thomas
Interesting. Thanks. I mean, it's, it's really cool when you say, you know, it's no secret, and you want other brands to be using this as well, because, you know, with the benefits that you're getting with using the technology, you would think that that kind of would be a secret, because it's a great USP for you, and a great advantage of you to be using this. But it's good to see that Didriksons kind of takes that wider view and kind of put sustainability first, which is refreshing for the industry, actually.

Giovanni Henssen
And yeah, actually, we were very happy with that, because that was the before we even in our very first discussion with Per, this was always the idea. Okay, we developed this project. But the idea was to, let's say, Bring it, motivate others to do the same, and that's exactly what you want to do here.

Madelaine Thomas
Brilliant. And sticking with that scalability. Giovanni, you know, when you are working with global brands like Didriksons, we, as I said, we see so many sustainability initiatives fail because of that lack of scalability. So, what do you think makes equal outcome different, and how have you managed to scale it working with brands like Didriksons.

Giovanni Henssen
So I have already mentioned it. But let me first say that that all the initiatives, sustainability initiatives that are going on, they must continue. Okay, we must continue in all these great initiatives like Per already mentioned textile to textile recycling, or using bio-based materials, or designed for recycling mono materials, which, by the way, the CXi Jacket is a mono material. So that makes at the end of life, recycling much easier. But Per also already mentioned, many of these technologies are still, let's say, in embryonic phase needs, need some time. Some need a little bit of time, but some definitely need, like Per, they said, like a decade or two before it comes at a scale that it really makes an impact on the environment. For example, in bio-based materials, it's great, but sometimes the availability is not there, or the price just makes it almost impossible to implement that at a large scale. So again, it is the future, definitely, and we ourselves as Fibrant and HSSC are also investing heavily in in closed loop recycling technologies, bringing back nylon-based garments, back to the let's say, the monomer, and make new yarns for it. But again, it takes time to scale it up, and we need action right now. And that is the main difference between EcoLactam and other sustainable initiatives is the fact that we changed the process to make the nylon, but didn't change the nylon itself, okay? And this takes away a major concern of quality differences or long validation processes. I mean, if you go from one type to the other, you need to validate your fabric. The quality is the same, the performance is the same, etc. So, what we did is we invested heavily in state of art technology to capture our greenhouse gas emissions and breaking them down in in harmless oxygen and nitrogen. And besides that, thanks to the fact that we're already producing our product for more than 70 years, we have developed a lot of process knowledge, and beyond that, also, we have about 200 patents on our process. That enables us to make a nylon in the most sustainable way with a non-parallel low price, low carbon footprint. So, the product specification, the product itself is identical, it didn't change, but it is made with a special process, resulting in a very low carbon footprint. And the that very low carbon footprint, in combination with our huge capacity, makes a true impact on the environment without affecting the quality. Because I think that's important. It's scale. It has no effect on quality, and it can be done fast. And that's what really make the difference scale, immediate availability and no change in quality.

Madelaine Thomas
And do you think Giovanni that you know, has it been difficult to get manufacturers and even brands to in such a difficult climate at the moment, to kind of have that confidence to take a risk and, you know, invest in a new technology like this?

Giovanni Henssen
Well, the fact, again, that there is no quality difference. Okay, of course, brands and Per did the same thing, even though I told him from the beginning, we didn't change the product, but the process any change, even if it's in a name. People want to verify that, but quickly find out that indeed, there is no change. So you don't need to develop from scrap, a complete new process, a dying process, admitting a setting, etc. So that validation process is quick, okay. But yes, the industry typically doesn't like change and but this is the minimum change we're asking from them to verify and reconfirm that there is indeed no change on the quality. But, yes, it's sometimes we need to be a little bit convincing too.

Madelaine Thomas
And Per why is it important? Do you think for brands to take that step and look beyond the tier three suppliers across the supply chain when looking to invest in in sustainable innovation?

Per Odqvist
Yeah, I mean, I love EcoLactam. You say we value trust and transparency, and that's where the whole industry are going, I think. I mean, we are working on innovations and responsibility from various angles of our business, but we have, since 2018 measured our emissions from scope one and two, meaning our own operations. But since 2020 we also gathered actual data for the whole scope three, meaning combined the whole supply chain. And we are, as a company, a part of STICA, which, which is a shortening for Scandinavian textile initiative for climate action. And we are a lot of brands joining, not join forces with this group. And with this we have also as a company, a target to reduce our CO2 emission by 50% until 2030. But what we learned is that our biggest CO2 emissions is coming from tier two to start with, so quite resource intense processes for the fabric production, with the weaving, dyeing and finishing. And from an isolated product emission perspective, that stands for in our world, for over 40% of The CO2 emissions and tier four, meaning what Giovanni and EcoLactam is, is coming with a better solution for is the raw material extraction. And according to our data, that is approximately 40% as well of our emission on the product.

So, this is one of the biggest reason, of course, because while the garment manufacturer, the tier one is under just under 10% and the yarn supplier, the tier three is approximately the same. So even though we have worked for a long time directly with our tier two suppliers and the fabric suppliers, and reduced footprint in, for example, the dyeing process, which is quite water intense and CO2 intense using a solution like technology or dog dye. There are several names of the same thing, but this is reducing our CO2 emissions in tier two level. Today actually, 40% four, zero percent of our total purchased quantity of fabrics is using the solution, like technology. So that's quite impressive, I think. But we find it crucial to now, when we have this insight of the data, we find it very crucial to take the next step and also work with better solution for our tier four footprints. And I mean normally, brands like us are working with tier one, the garment manufacturer, or tier two, the fabric manufacturer, and then they try to find new, better solution, and start tracing back and backwards from here. So, what really made a difference, meaning, with the field of trust and transparency, is the cooperation with EcoLactam where Giovanni order dimension. I mean, we had an immediate, actual, measurable impact in tier four, where we know we have biggest impact. And there is also a positive benefit with the speed to market, starting from there, and just connect the whole supply chain. So, working with the tier four supply that has the same values made it possible to put together full value chain with direct reduction of emissions, where we know we have the biggest possibility of reduction of our whole scope, so to speak, it's yeah. It's been very interesting, and we learned a lot.

Thomas: Learning curve.

Giovanni Henssen
Yeah, exactly. And this is typical, because brands not only like Didriksons, but typically brands like per said, they look back until tier three maximum, which is the yarn supplier. And we, being part of HSCC, are a yarn supplier, but we're fully integrated as also tier four. So we also the, let's say, the base chemical provider, and that's where the biggest gain is in this product, in the whole nylon production process, tier four, the base chemicals, and that's what we do at Fibrant in the Netherlands, again, as a pre as a first step in making the nylon as a tier three, as a yarn supplier. So we were very happy with the connection, let's say the upstream connection between Didriksons and us, that that made the difference.

Madelaine Thomas
Giovanni, what does the future look like for the industry? Do you think? And how can we collectively improve our approach to manufacturing, and I guess, as well as that, what are the next steps for you with EcoLactam and beyond, right?

Giovanni Henssen
Well, I think the urgency and the drive to reduce emissions and improve our sustainability performance due to legislation that's coming up was already in place, public opinion, of course, climate changes, that's why we all do it. It will only get more and more okay in the future, not only dealing but every single brand has set themselves quite ambitious targets to reduce their emissions 25 even up to 50% and I've seen even climate neutrality being a target for 2040, 2050 which is very challenging, I can tell you. And many, many brands have already started working on scope one and two, which is in their own control. Scope three is a little bit out of their control, unless they talk upstream, like we did with Didriksons, and look where the biggest impact can be gained.

So this is exactly where we can help, you know, working with the brands on their scope three, because this is where the main this, the majority of all emissions, I'll pair already said it's 60% okay, which is, which is scope three, even I think scope three is bigger than 60% typically is 95% but what's related to the materials? That's typically 60, 70%. So this is, this is only get, get more, more pressure on brands, not only brands, but everybody in the value chain, including ourselves. Okay? So, because we started with EcoLactam two years ago, or a little bit less than two years ago, with this unparalleled low pro carbon footprint, but we continue to improve on our footprint. So, if you think about the next step, we have reduced our footprint almost to a bare minimum. So, what we now the next step for us looks like is look at our upstream process, okay, so our suppliers, what can our suppliers do to drive down further the footprint of our product and therefore for the downstream market. And a good example there is, again, indeed, bio-based. Okay, we talked about it as this one of those initiatives, but we already have selected a bio-based, let's say, a buyer circle of feed stock for our product that reduces the footprint with another 50%, okay? That brings our footprint, let's say, to the same level as mechanical recycled product, but with the with the quality of a virgin product. And that's what we need. We need high quality, high large quantities, you know, and no concern on quality. So that is, that is one thing, and I mentioned it before, the next steps would also be at end of life look at how we can recycle that back to the base and make it available again for the high-end market. So, there's that this is a first step for us. We continue to improve our quality, we continue to look at our suppliers for better, more sustainable feedstock for us, and therefore for the rest of the value chain. And we would not only like to invite brand owners, but also manufacturers to connect with us and see what we how we can repeat the success we had with Didriksons because only, as everybody always says, only together, right?

Madelaine Thomas
Thanks, that's a great invitation to finish on Giovanni, thank you. So, what we'll do now is we'll go to some audience questions. We'll start off with one for you. Giovanni on whether the EcoLactam presents any problems for the new legislation being introduced?

Giovanni Henssen
I don't see how EcoLactam could be a problem. It could be more like a solution. So I don't really understand what you're saying.

Madelaine Thomas
So the new legislation we are referring to is that you eco design for sustainable product legislation, as part of the EU Green Deal?

Giovanni Henssen
Yeah, I don't see a problem here again, the echo design, as far as I know, what it includes is the is the use of, for example, more sustainable products and the use of recycled product.

Per Odqvist
I think I can, from a brand perspective, since we are also looking into a lot of these topics, I mean, there is along with the sustain sustainability claim, making that obvious, you also need to come up with some validation, right? But I think also that depends on how you're communicating. I mean, in the end, we will have to gather actual data somehow, and depending on that, how that validation looks like, I think we without greenwashing or green hashing, as long as you can present some kind of CO2 data and compare this is actually and it can be validated with, with the direct, with the supplier, and that will be the future.

Giovanni Henssen
Thanks, Per for helping me out there because I didn't really understand. We have our product fully validated and certified by a full life cycle assessment, so which was verified by independent authorities, external so there's indeed, no concern on greenwashing or whatsoever. So, thanks.

Madelaine Thomas
The delegate did say, ‘I'm already positively won over to EcoLactam technology, but was wondering about the new legislation’. And so we'll go over to another question, from a brand perspective, did you have to encourage buy in from your supply chain partners to integrate EcoLactam, and were there any barriers to overcome, or lessons learned from the process?

Giovanni Henssen
Yeah, I mean, between us and the brand owner, in this case, Didriksons. Of course, there are few companies in between, a manufacturer, a garment maker, and yes, they need to be on board as well, no doubt about that. Our product is being produced in Europe, and typically, if we want to make an impact, we have to bring it to Asia, because that's where the, let's say, the majority of all textiles are being produced. That makes the product a little bit more expensive. Okay? And that is the convincing part that we had to work on. Why? So if we, let's say, push it through the value chain via the manufacturers at a slightly higher price, it is difficult. Okay, so we really need to brand owners to back us up and work with us on this otherwise, it will not move. And you always have this, this, this negotiation between every party. But if we all, that's why it's so important. What Per already mentioned in this project with Didriksons it was Radici and FOV Fabrics in Sweden, and then so everybody in the value chain. We actually had calls like this, and we were on the same page, and that's what we need. So but yes, the people between us, tier four and tier zero brands, they there was some discussion calling, yeah, discussion required to get everybody on the same page, yes, in this particular process.

Madelaine Thomas
And Per, how did you find this process?

Per Odqvist
Yeah, I agree with Giovanni, but I also, I mean from a brand perspective, even though it's a bit more expensive, it's a small part of the whole process, so in the end, it's not a huge difference, but it's as Giovanni says, going into the future, looking into where this raw material can go through spinners or fabric manufacturers, I think there is a huge change now from their behaviour. I mean, the weaving mills and fabric suppliers, they're also looking for, for better alternatives. And I feel it's changing very quickly that they, if they find a new solution, of course, they want to be, they see the potential with it, and as long as they're on board and having the same mindset and are willing to do change and impact, that counts. It's quite easy to convince them to make the change. And again, if you have good partnership, you need to focus on establishing a supply chain and talk with suppliers all the way because and they need to trust the brand and end user of the product as well to get the message out, I think otherwise, they will not invest.

Madelaine Thomas
Absolutely. I think trust is key. There isn't it, as you said, and it's that, it's that mindset shift that's needed within the industry. Okay, well, I think that's all we've got time for now. And we've just got one more question come through, actually.

So, is EcoLactam’s impact reduction focused on carbon, like Ecopax DSN, I've not heard of that? Oh, sorry, that's another question that's just come up. Is EcoLactam’s impact reduction focused on carbon, or have you explored potential impacts in other areas, such as water usage, land usage, etc.

Giovanni Henssen
Yeah. Yeah. Like I said, we have a full life cycle assessment done, including all those elements as well, water use, land use, the whole 16 different categories. So, we didn't only look at the, let's say, the carbon effect, the carbon reduction, but all the other elements as well.

Madelaine Thomas
Okay, great. Nice answer, because we haven't out of time. So we did that get that one question through. So we'll try and get that one done quickly as well. So Giovanni, do you work on bio PA, based on plant caster oil, like Ecopax DSM, how it works, and is it a realistic way towards a green solution?

Giovanni Henssen
I happen to know the Ecopax product from DSM, former DSM now being in value, but this is not ours. Okay, this is a different company. But castor oil is one of the bio sources, or feeds, the bio sources to make to make nylon. We could do that, but we choose a different one. The ones that we are focusing on as bio circular feed stock are typically cooking oils or waste PFADs palms from the palm oil industry, not so much castor oil, but we could do that as well. It is one of the options, and is it really a way to a green solution? We definitely want to stay away from any bio feed stock that is infringing the food or feed chain.

Madelaine Thomas
Absolutely. Well, Thank you so much, Giovanni, and thank you Per it's been fantastic hearing about your experiences and what we can learn from those thank you messages coming through from our audience as well. So that's nice to see. So again, thank you but and thank you to our audience. If you have any further questions for either of our speakers, then please do feel free to reach out to Giovanni. Okay, thank you again and next time.

Henssen: Thank you.

Odqvist: Thank you. Take care, everybody.

Henssen: Thank you. Bye, bye.