Cotton

Recycled cotton, made from pre- or post-consumer waste like production leftovers or used textiles, is the most environmentally preferred form of cotton. It reduces natural resource depletion and textile waste in landfills by avoiding new cotton production.

Mechanically recycled cotton involves shredding the material to create a secondary raw material, preserving its chemical structure. While this process unavoidably shortens fiber length, leading to some technical limitations in material quality, ongoing innovations are improving mechanically recycled materials.

• Pre-Consumer Recycled Materials: These are materials diverted from waste streams during the manufacturing process. For example, using leftover cutting scraps from manufacturing facilities when a garment is being made.
• Post-Consumer Recycled Materials: These are materials generated by households or commercial and industrial facilities. When these products can no longer be used for their intended purpose and are recycled, they are then determined to be post-consumer.

Organic cotton is grown without chemical pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or genetically modified seeds. These agricultural methods support biodiversity, healthy ecosystems, and improve soil quality.

The production systems for organic cotton aim to replenish and maintain soil fertility while fostering biologically diverse agriculture. This is achieved by prohibiting synthetic, toxic, and persistent pesticides and fertilizers, and genetically engineered seeds. Transitioning from conventional to organic cotton takes approximately three years, during which the land must meet the criteria to be certified organic under national or international standards.

Transitional cotton follows the farming practices described in organic cotton, but the farm is in the process of shifting from conventional to organic farming practices. This transition takes about three years, or until the land qualifies as certified organic under national or international organic standards. 

Converting to organic cotton is a multi-year journey as farmland needs time to improve soil health and re-establish an ecosystem balance from synthetic fertilizers and pesticides used on the cotton plants and soil. When farmers make this change, the switch from conventional to organic farming can severely impact cotton growing, yield and therefore the farmer’s livelihood. Most small-scale farmers cannot survive three years of lost earnings, and without support or longer-term guarantees, converting to organic is a big risk for farmers. 

To ensure future organic cotton supplies and support farmers transitioning, we ensure clear demand signals for “in-conversion” or “transitional” cotton alongside financial support.