Adding to a growing list of joint achievements, MBDC, creators of the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Products Program, and Circular Economy advisors Eco Intelligent Growth (EIG), have assessed the first Platinum certified fabric for C&A. The Beluga Denim is currently the only fabric certified at this level worldwide, and only the second product to reach Platinum in the history of the program.
EIG co-founder Ignasi Cubiña brought Rajby Textiles Ltd, a textile manufacturer based in Pakistan, to the team to collaborate on creating the world’s most sustainable denim fabric. The denim’s material properties and production process were carefully optimized and rigorously tested to meet the highest level of requirements for all five Cradle to Cradle Certified categories: material health, material reutilization, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship and social fairness.
MBDC conducted the material health assessment of the multi-faceted certification to ensure the fabric was safe first, then circular. EIG was as the general assessor integrating the efforts and looking closely at what MBDC Co-founder William McDonough refers to as The Five Goods:
- Good Materials: To meet the Platinum challenge, Rajby designed a fabric made entirely of safe and rapidly renewable ingredients, both fibers and chemicals. This means that no oil-based dyes or auxiliaries could be used
- Good Economy: Rajby collaborated with C&A to ensure that Beluga fabric will be actively cycled into a new product after end-of-use as part of their take-back system
- Good Energy: 100% of the final manufacturing stage is carbon positive
- Good Water: The team designed a new system to recover all water used in the Beluga process, separately, to ensure complete reuse
- Good Lives: Rajby has progressive social objectives aiming to have a more inclusive workforce and provide opportunities to minorities in their community. Rajby also has been audited and approved by the Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP)
Previous EIG and MBDC collaborations for C&A include the first certified Gold compostable t-shirt and circular denim jeans.
“Circular Economy is not a new engine, it’s a new framework of relationships,” said Cubiña. “I personally started this relationship with Bill and his team in 2004, and from day one our main goal was how to implement the high aspirations of the Cradle to Cradle vision into practice. When teaming up with leaders like the ones involved in this project, I trust we’re bringing a strong message to the world — well-rooted intentions for good deliver the best results. We can use complexity for our own benefit, and for the benefit of everyone, everywhere and every time, it’s time to deliver now. All parties involved take pride in this success and for EIG, it’s a very important and dear landmark.”
“The relationship between MBDC and EIG is wonderful because it makes the world better,” said McDonough. “By working together on fashion and textiles, we acknowledge that fashion is a verb — to fashion. We fashion things and the world is physically affected by our choices of materials, energy and water and how we treat each other. Our collaboration on Cradle to Cradle helps brands like C&A fashion things that are good for the world.”
Jeff Hogue, C&A’s chief sustainability officer, cited the close relationship with McDonough as a guiding force for the project. “We owe this new success to the initial inspiration of and continued collaboration with William McDonough as well as to the strong spirit of collaboration with our supply chain partner Rajby Textiles Ltd., whose knowledge and determination were instrumental in achieving this breakthrough,” said Hogue. “C&A is proud to be the first fashion brand to achieve the highest certification level within the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Products Program, but as with our other circular innovations, we aim to share our knowledge open source to create a pathway towards circularity for the industry.”
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