Fabric review: New 100% recycled material tracksuit fabric

With the Mini Me Collection, Gugguu's collection added two completely new fabrics: sweat fabrics made from 100% recycled material. The fabrics are made from recycled polyester, recycled nylon, and recycled elastane. In this post, we tell a bit more about the new materials. The materials have various environmental certificates, which we will discuss later in this blog post. 

Materials

The collection uses two different types of sweat fabric for both children's sweatshirts and sweatpants, as well as men's sweatshirts and pants. Printed sweatshirts and sweatpants are polyester-elastane blends, while solid color sweat sets are nylon-elastane blends.

Solid color sweatshirts and sweatpants are made from fabric that is 83% recycled nylon and 17% recycled elastane.

Printed sweatshirts and sweatpants are made from fabric that is 86% recycled polyester and 14% recycled elastane.

The finishing and dyeing of materials are also carried out environmentally friendly, ensuring that the entire fabric production chain is as neutral as possible for the environment and that the products made from the fabric are safe to use.

Recycled elastane

Both sweat fabrics use recycled elastane. The elastane we use in the sweatpants is recycled in Germany and is GRS certified. The yarn is created by collecting surplus elastane yarns from the textile industry, separating them, and spinning them again into yarn. This way, materials that would otherwise end up as waste are put to use. The water used in the process circulates continuously within the system, resulting in very low water emissions.  

Recycled polyester

Recycled polyester is made from recycled PET plastic, obtained from used plastic bottles. The material has a GRS certificate. For every kilo of recycled PET, three kilos of carbon dioxide emissions are saved. The dyeing of the products and the finishing of the fibers also take place during the spinning process, which is a significantly more environmentally friendly option compared to traditional processes.

The process from plastic bottle to yarn is quite simple. Bottles are collected and chopped. Then the pieces are ground and melted, after which they are solidified into uniform pellets. After this, the material is melted again until polyester fibers are produced from it. 

Recycled nylon

The recycled nylon used in the material is certified by SCS Global Standard and GRS. 

Recycled nylon comes from Spain. It is made from industrial surplus by spinning nylon polymers into yarn. This reduces the carbon dioxide emissions of the nylon production process by up to 53% and of course reduces the amount of waste generated. 1000 kilograms of recycled nylon reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 1424 kilograms, which corresponds to an 8544 km car trip. 

Certificates

Global Recycled Standard or GRS

The GRS certificate is an international standard that requires the product and company to meet requirements regarding recycled material, various company practices, chemical restrictions, and the entire production chain. 

The certificate can be applied for if at least 50% of the product's materials are recycled. However, this is not the only requirement; the entire operation of the company is taken into account, from working conditions to social responsibility and minimizing environmental impacts. Companies with the certificate are continuously monitored, and the certificate is granted only for one year at a time. 

SCS Global Standard

SCS Global Standard is an environmental certification body that certifies many different sectors and products. Recycled nylon is nylon verified by SCS Global Standard, meaning SCS Global Standard has reviewed the production process and confirmed it complies with the standards. The standards are extensive: they cover transparency and traceability of the production chain, the production process, product usability and durability, waste management, and much more.

The Bluesign® system

The Bluesign® system is a company related to environmental friendliness in the textile industry, which certifies products and companies based on their efforts to produce textiles with as low emissions as possible. The Bluesign® is an active environmental advocate in the textile industry, aiming to support the development of the textile industry towards being more environmentally friendly. The company manufacturing knit fabrics is a partner of the Bluesign® system, meaning it actively cooperates with Bluesign.