Page 10 - Environmental_Circular Economy

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1.3 Application of the R-imperatives in the fashion sector

The fashion sector offers many possibilities of application of the 7Rs and is encouraged to handle the role
of a pioneer in this field. At EU level for instance, the CIRCFASH call, launched by the European funding
programme COSME, encourage the transnational partnerships between SMEs from the fashion sector to
develop circular projects.

Best practice 1: MUD Jeans

The European Circular Economy Stakeholder platform provides number of examples of application of the
circular economy principles in different economic sectors, that you can search by key area, sector or
country.

This platform present over 15 best practices dedicated to the textile sector (among many other initiatives).
For example, the MUD jeans practice: circular denims (almost) never die (circulareconomy.europa.eu, s.f.).
Here is there best practice, as presented in the platform:

MUD Jeans is a circular jeans brand from the Netherlands which has been applying a circular model to the
production of jeans for a number of years. Customers can lease or buy MUD jeans, and return these to
have them recycled into new denim products, thus saving water and resources. As it is important for MUD
customers to wear their jeans as long as possible, MUD also offers a free repair service.

When customers no longer wear their jeans, they can send their old jeans back to MUD, which can reuse
them. Consumers receive a discount on a new pair when they hand in an old pair. Non-MUD jeans are also
accepted for recycling, the only condition being that the jeans must be at least 96% cotton.

When old (MUD) jeans are sent back to the firm, a small quality check is carried out: if they are still in good
condition, they are given a second life through MUD’s vintage program (re-use). If they are irreparably
worn out or from another brand, jeans are mechanically recycled at MUD’s recycle factory in Spain
(recover@), where the worn jeans are shredded into small pieces and processed back into recycled fibers.

Fibers then go to MUD’s fabric manufacturer, Tejidos Royo, also in Spain. Here the fibers are mixed with
organic GOTS certified cotton and yarn is spun from it. The yarns are dyed and woven into fabrics.
The resulting fabrics contain between 23-40% post-consumer recycled cotton fibers made from old worn
jeans.