Recover Textile Systems
{{Short description|Spanish textile company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Recover Textile Systems, S.L.
| logo = Recover Textile Systems logo in black.png
| logo_size = 100px
| logo_upright = 0.2
| logo_alt = Recover Textile Systems logo
| trading_name = Recover
| type = Privately held company
| industry = Textiles
| founded = 2020
| hq_location = Banyeres de Mariola, Spain
| products = Recycled Cotton Fiber
| website = {{url|https://recoverfiber.com}}
}}
Recover Textile Systems, mainly known as Recover, is a materials science company and producer of mechanically recycled cotton fiber and recycled cotton fiber blends, created in 2020 with its headquarters in Banyeres de Mariola, Spain.{{Cite web |title=Recover: el 'spin off' de Hilaturas Ferre gana escala tras su venta y firma con Primark |url=https://www.modaes.es/equipamiento/recover-el-spin-off-de-hilaturas-ferre-gana-escala-tras-su-venta-y-firma-con-primark.html |access-date=2022-04-26 |website=www.modaes.es |language=es}}
History
Recover is a spin-off of Ferre Yarns (Hilaturas Ferre), a Spanish textile company based in Banyeres de Mariola, Spain. The Ferre family started its business in 1914 as a textile factory dedicated to the production of jute and other non-clothing textiles. After a period of raw material shortages due to the first and second world wars, in 1947 the company started recycling textile waste back into cotton yarns.{{Citation |title=Recovertex - Hilaturas Ferrer - Cómo hacer moda sostenible | date=16 August 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCKQnBn_SKA |language=en |access-date=2022-04-07}}
In 2006, Ferre Yarns gave a name to its recycled product line: Recover. In the following years, the company started expanding its product lines by including cotton fiber blends to its portfolio, such as recycled cotton-recycled polyester (rPET) and recycled cotton-organic cotton. In 2014, Ferre Yarns launched its first Recover product lines with retailers such as H&M, Armani, Hugo Boss and Inditex.{{Cite web |date=2017-05-25 |title=La moda circular es tendencia, ¿te apuntas? |url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/ocio/20170525/422904917041/la-moda-circular-es-tendencia-te-apuntas.html |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=La Vanguardia |language=es}}
In December 2020, Ferre Yarns announced it sold its spin-off Recover to the American private equity fund STORY3 Capital.{{Cite web |date=2020-12-17 |title=Hilaturas Ferre vende su spin off Recover al fondo estadounidense Story3 Capital |url=https://www.webcapitalriesgo.com/hilaturas-ferre-vende-su-spin-off-recover-al-fondo-estadounidense-story3-capital/ |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=Webcapitalriesgo |language=es}} Ferre Yarns would focus on spinning, while the fiber business would be taken over by the newly created Recover Textile Systems, S.L. The Ferre family announced it would maintain a minority stake in Recover as Alfredo Ferre was named chief executive officer.
In May 2021, Recover announced it opened a facility in Pakistan in partnership with Artistic Denim Mills (ADM).{{Cite web |last1=Velasquez |first1=Angela |date=2021-05-11 |title=ADM Inks Deal with Recover to Scale Traceable Recycled Cotton |url=https://sourcingjournal.com/denim/denim-mills/artistic-denim-mills-recover-traceable-post-consumer-recycled-cotton-pakistan-277762/ |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=Sourcing Journal |language=en-US}} In May 2022, Recover unveiled its new facility in Dhaka, Bangladesh to boost its manufacturing capabilities and directly service the country's textile sector.{{Cite web |date=2022-05-11 |title=Recover closes the loop with new Bangaladesh facility |url=https://www.just-style.com/news/recover-closes-the-loop-with-new-bangaladesh-facility/ |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=Just Style |language=en-US}} Bangladesh is the world's second largest apparel exporter after China, and was deemed, therefore, an ideal location for expansion given the increasing demand for ‘sustainable’ materials.{{Cite book |last1=Cheng |first1=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bX1aDwAAQBAJ&dq=Bangladesh+second+largest+apparel+exporter&pg=PT36 |title=Supply Chain Risk Management in the Apparel Industry |last2=Fu |first2=Yelin |last3=Lai |first3=Kin Keung |date=2018-05-11 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-31415-0 |language=en}}
In June 2022, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s asset-management arm led a $100 million growth investment in the company.{{Cite news |last=Armental |first=Maria |date=2022-06-09 |title=Goldman Sachs Leads $100 Million Investment in Sustainable Textile Company Recover |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/goldman-sachs-leads-100-million-investment-in-sustainable-textile-company-recover-11654747260 |access-date=2022-08-24 |issn=0099-9660}} The investment, the company said, put it on track to increase its production and add 15 manufacturing facilities in seven geographies, including Vietnam.{{Cite web |title=Goldman-Backed Recycled Cotton Supplier Valued at $1 Billion |url=https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/recycled-cotton-company-recover-valued-at-1-billion-in-goldman-sachs-led-funding-round/ |access-date=2022-08-26 |website=The Business of Fashion |date=9 June 2022 |language=en}}
Manufacturing process
The company's manufacturing process falls under mechanical textile-to-textile recycling, a process which recovers materials of pre-consumer, post-consumer and post-industrial origins to transform them into recycled yarns for new fabrics.{{Cite journal |last1=Sandvik |first1=Ida Marie |last2=Stubbs |first2=Wendy |date=2019-01-01 |title=Circular fashion supply chain through textile-to-textile recycling |url=https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-04-2018-0058 |journal=Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=366–381 |doi=10.1108/JFMM-04-2018-0058 |s2cid=181446929 |issn=1361-2026|url-access=subscription }} Textile recycling is a component of a circular economy, along with reusing, reducing and repairing.
Recover has a public Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study published in 2016, that was carried out by the University of Valencia, called “Environmental impact of Recover cotton in the Textile industry”. The study was later verified by AITEX and UNESCO. It analyzes the manufacturing process of a garment made from conventional cotton compared to one made from Recover recycled cotton. The use of recycled cotton eliminates several phases of the manufacturing process of conventional cotton, such as farming, ginning, and dyeing. This produces savings for the environment in terms of water, pollutants, CO₂ emissions, energy and land use.{{Cite journal |last1=Esteve-Turrillas |first1=F. A. |last2=de la Guardia |first2=M. |date=2017-01-01 |title=Environmental impact of Recover cotton in textile industry |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344916302828 |journal=Resources, Conservation and Recycling |language=en |volume=116 |pages=107–115 |doi=10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.09.034 |bibcode=2017RCR...116..107E |issn=0921-3449|url-access=subscription }}
Recover complies to annual verification tests and certifications by third parties such as Organic Content Standard (OCS) and Global Recycle Standard (GRS).{{Cite web |title=Recover - Textile Exchange |work=Textile Exchange |url=https://textileexchange.org/featured/recover-2021/ |access-date=2022-04-26 |language=en-US}} The company is also a member of several industry initiatives such as Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC),{{Cite web |title=Manufacturers |url=https://apparelcoalition.org/manufacturers/ |access-date=2022-04-26 |website=Sustainable Apparel Coalition |language=en-US}} Textile Exchange{{Cite web |title=Recover - Textile Exchange |work=Textile Exchange |url=https://textileexchange.org/featured/recover-2021/ |access-date=2022-04-26 |language=en-US}} and Global Fashion Agenda.{{Cite web |title=Recover — GLOBAL FASHION AGENDA |url=https://www.globalfashionagenda.com/innovator/recover/ |access-date=2022-04-26 |language=en-US}}
Recognition
In 2017, Ferre Yarns, S.A., received the innovative company award from la Fundación Textil Algodonera for its production of circular yarns.{{Cite web |title=La industria algodonera premia la gestión del diseño y la innovación en fibras sintéticas |url=https://www.modaes.es/back-stage/la-industria-algodonera-premia-la-gestion-del-diseno-y-la-innovacion-en-fibras-sinteticas.html |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=www.modaes.es |language=es}} In 2018, Ferre Yarns, S.A., received the Aitex Business Award in the Sustainability category for its Recover project.{{Cite web |last=by |date=2019-03-11 |title=Entregados Los Premios Empresariales AITEX 2018 A La Innovación Y A La Sostenibilidad |url=https://www.aitex.es/entregados-los-premios-empresariales-aitex-2018-a-la-innovacion-y-a-la-sostenibilidad/ |access-date=2022-04-07 |language=es-ES}} In November 2021, Recover received the Ryan Young Climate+ Award in the Climate Leader category granted by Textile Exchange.{{Cite web |date=2021-11-04 |title=2021 Ryan Young Climate+ Awards - Textile Exchange |url=https://textileexchange.org/2021-ryan-young-climate-awards-2/ |access-date=2022-04-07 |language=en-US}} Shortly after, the company received a Drapers Award in the Disruptor category.{{Cite web |last=Fish |first=Isabella |date=2021-11-18 |title=Drapers Awards 2021 winners revealed |url=https://www.drapersonline.com/news/drapers-awards-2021-winners-revealed |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=Drapers |language=en}}
In May 2022, Recover won the Green Product Award 2022 in the Fashion category.{{Cite web |last=Remington |first=Chris |title=Recover wins Green Product Award |url=https://www.ecotextile.com/2022051929357/materials-production-news/recover-wins-green-product-award.html |access-date=2022-08-26 |website=Ecotextile News |date=19 May 2022 |language=en-GB}} In September 2022, Recover won the ITMF Sustainability & Innovation Award at the ITMF Annual Conference 2022 in Davos.{{Cite web |title=ITMF Award winners 2022 |url=https://www.innovationintextiles.com/industry-talk/ |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=www.innovationintextiles.com}}