On Monday, Textile Exchange revealed its latest corporate fiber and materials benchmark tracing the 12-month sourcing and management practices of 232 brands and retailers, among them PVH Corp., Timberland, H&M Group, Inditex, Eileen Fisher and more.
Today, preferred encompasses everything from recycled polyester to organic and recycled cotton. The materials were assessed for their risks, investments, transparency, impact targets and general perceptions.
By breakdown, preferred cotton leads and now represents 65 percent of overall cotton self-reported by participating brands, with recycled polyester jumping to 32 percent of polyester use, compared to 21 percent the year before. . “In order to remain within the 1.5-degree pathway and ensure climate goals are achieved, the impacts of synthetic fibers must be significantly reduced, and we must accelerate the transition away from fossil-fuel derived synthetics toward synthetics from recycled or regenerative sources,” she said.
Textile Exchange accentuated the importance of drafting decisions off of a materials strategy, or one which provides a framework to identify risks to supply, focus investment and drive sustainability performance. Luckily, nearly all or 98 percent of companies have a materials strategy today.