Fashion for Good launches project to set quality benchmarks for recycled cotton
The Cotton Reloop Matrix Project brings together Arvind, Bestseller, C&A, Interloop, Reformation, Shahi and Uster to map where recycled cotton meets brand quality needs and to publish an open-source spinning procedure.
Egytex News Desk
Source: Just Style
Fashion for Good, the Amsterdam-based sustainable fashion innovation platform, has launched the Cotton Reloop Matrix Project to establish quality benchmarks that would let recycled cotton be used at commercial scale, Just Style reported on 6 October.
The project partners are Indian textile groups Arvind and Shahi, Pakistan's Interloop, brands and retailers Bestseller, C&A and Reformation, and Swiss testing and quality specialist Uster.
According to the report, cotton accounts for 19% of global fibre production, yet blends made with mechanically recycled cotton are currently limited to around 10% recycled content before durability problems appear. Mechanical recycling causes significant fibre loss and produces shorter, weaker fibres.
The project will run in three phases:
- Mapping and analysis: comparing recyclers' output with brands' requirements for knit and woven products, producing a "Quality Matrix" that shows where recycled content already meets expectations.
- Practical trials: working with selected recyclers to produce 10 demonstration fabrics and run five trials aimed at improving quality, with a trade-off analysis of recycled content, cost and quality.
- Standardisation: publishing best practice as an open-source standard operating procedure for spinning, and releasing a roadmap of the data infrastructure needed for wider adoption.
Fashion for Good argues for a "fit for purpose" standard rather than judging recycled blends only against virgin cotton specifications. "Recycled cotton has been talked about as a scale-ready solution for years, but the industry has been working from fragmented data and siloed testing," said managing director Katrin Ley.
What it means for Egyptian exporters
When major brands agree on what "good enough" recycled cotton looks like, those specifications quickly reach their suppliers' order sheets. Egyptian spinners, knitters and denim mills that serve EU and US brands should follow the project's open-source spinning procedure once it is published. The partner list also includes Interloop, which has signed a $35.2 million ready-made garments project in Qantara West, according to the Suez Canal Economic Zone — a sign that recycled-cotton know-how may soon be applied inside Egypt itself.
Source: Just Style, 6 October 2026
