Alsico’s transition to a circular economy has taken another major step toward closing the loop for its workwear with the first shipment of 4,500 pounds of end-of-life garments to Sixone’s recycling facility, following successful recyclability assessment tests with Sixone earlier this year.
From now on, end-of-life garments collected through alsico’s arx garment collector will be systematically returned and transformed into high-quality polyester chips, providing a continuous source of material for the textile industry. “This is not a pilot or a one-off shipment. It marks the start of a permanent process where end-of-life garments will continually return as raw materials for future workwear,” said Vincent Siau, head of the alsico academy. “What once marked the end of a garment’s life is now the start of something new.” By organising systematic collection of end-of-life garments, alsico ensures that nothing is wasted and that every piece of clothing can come back into the loop as a resource.
A closed-loop system is the operational backbone of alsico’s circular economy, ensuring that materials stay in use and waste is minimised. The brand’s collaboration with Sixone enables keeping textiles in circulation within the workwear industry, extending their purpose and life cycle. “We are excited to move our strategic partnership with alsico to the next stage and demonstrate that end-of-life garments still hold real value,” said Christopher Wai, co-founder and CEO of Sixone. “This is a key step in creating a future where clothing is circular, and collaboration with like-minded partners like alsico is essential to our journey.” No viable solution currently exists in Europe for recycling polyester(-blended) post-consumer textiles at this level, but this has not stopped alsico from finding a partner that can help move forward its circular ambitions.
Working with Sixone in Canada, alsico is ensuring that the end-of-life garments are responsibly recycled and returned to the loop with full traceability. This partnership is the next logical step to address the millions of tons of textile waste already moving around the world every year, often to places where it ends up burned, buried, or downcycled. The workwear manufacturer’s ambition is to create a fully integrated, circular supply chain where alsico garments.