The fashion industry’s annual production of an estimated 100 to 150 billion garments has a mounting environmental cost.

Each year, garment production generates 1.2 billion tonnes of CO₂ emissions and releases about 500,000 tonnes of microplastic fibres into the ocean, according to Science Direct.). An estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste is generated globally per annum, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, with most of it incinerated or ending up in landfills.

These alarming figures have drawn the attention of regulators and policymakers, with authorities in the EU, China and US states like California demanding the industry reins in excess production and waste. For example, the EU has recently approved the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which will soon require fashion companies to report on unsold textiles and will make it illegal to destroy unsold products by early 2026.

With 60 percent of brands behind on sustainability targets, according to The State of Fashion 2025’s executive survey, brands must consider new strategies to meet changing regulatory needs.

Since its inception more than 75 years ago, Recover — one of the world’s largest producers of mechanically recycled cotton — has supported businesses across the apparel, accessories and home textiles industries to reduce their environmental footprint.

The company transforms textile waste at the post-industrial stage, in addition to pre- and post-consumer sources (such as fabric off-cuts or old clothes) into high-quality recycled cotton and fibre blends across its recycling facilities in Spain, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and El Salvador.

It works with its 150-plus partners to eliminate landfill waste, reduce water usage and eutrophication (the excessive enrichment of water with nutrients or chemicals, such as those from textile runoff, leading to algal overgrowth and oxygen depletion) by 99.9 percent. These businesses also report consuming 96 percent less energy and reducing Co2 emissions by 93 percent.

Since the appointment of CEO Anders Sjöblom in 2024 — formerly global managing director of H&M Lifestyle Brands — Recover has entered a new chapter, expanding beyond natural recycled cotton fibre into fabrics to streamline the adoption of recycled materials for fashion brands.

While Recover’s traditional fibre blends have allowed its clients to spin its materials into new garments, the company is now also helping brands without the means to transform fibres in-house, or looking to adopt faster sustainable solutions, to achieve more environmentally responsible production methods by offering access to its newly developed Recover Fabrics products.

The newly introduced recycled natural fabrics can be easily integrated into brands’ pre-existing supply chains and manufacturing facilities. With a combination of different blends of Recover’s recycled fibres, the new fabrics reduce land use, greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption by up to one-third.

The fabric collections offer a fast, go-to-market solution for the most common and commercially relevant materials, such as cotton fibre and blends with lyocell, elastane and conventionally grown, responsibly sourced cotton — which can decompose in as little as three months, as opposed to up to the 200 years it takes polyester.

Recover has also developed Recover Blanks, a ready-to-wear, unbranded basics collection, including t-shirts, hoodies, sweaters and joggers, for customers seeking pre-designed sustainable basics.

To learn more about how Recover is evolving its offerings to cater to fashion brands looking to implement sustainable solutions into their supply chain, *The Business of Fashion *sits down with its CEO Anders Sjöblom.

CEO of Recover, Anders Sjöblom. (Cristina Robles/Cristina Robles)

What is driving demand for sustainable and low-impact materials today?

Consumer preferences, regulation and brand value — or risk — are the main forces driving demand.

Consumers are increasingly aware of environmental impact and want to know where products come from, what they contain, and how they align with their values. Yet, while consumers aim to be more sustainable, they don’t always act accordingly, which makes regulation a key driver of demand.

Regulation is needed to level the playing field so that brands committed to sustainability aren’t at a disadvantage. The EU is introducing extensive regulations that will expand over the coming years, covering everything from environmental communication to minimum requirements for recycled fibre content in new garments.

What do brands risk by not investing in sustainable fabric solutions?

Most brands have made ambitious sustainability commitments and want to be perceived as honest with their customers.

Traceability is crucial, as many have pledged to use more recycled content but face challenges verifying materials due to fragmented and opaque supply chains. In cotton production, for example, we have seen recent scandals and widespread issues with fake certificates.

Many brands now recognise the risk of being exposed for not meeting their sustainability claims, which could seriously damage their reputation. This is why more brands are partnering with us.

What are common misconceptions around adopting sustainable manufacturing practices or recycled fibres?

Many believe recycled fibres always mean a compromise on quality. Another is around price — brands often assume sustainability must come with a significant cost increase.

That’s why we are launching Recover Fabrics. Through innovation and collaboration with strategic partners, we have achieved much higher qualities in recycled cotton — from soft jerseys and premium heavy fleeces to woven applications and even tailored suits.

This is especially important in a creative industry where decisions are made visually and tactically. Designers need to see and feel the fabric to imagine the final garment, so having strong, high-quality fabrics from the start is essential.

What must fashion executives be aware of when assessing their manufacturers and supply chain for greater sustainability credentials?

Executives still need to balance factors like competence, quality, logistics, tariffs and price. However, growing attention must be given to ways of working — particularly traceability and transparency, which we offer our brand partners.

Recover offers transparency in three ways: through certification; digital traceability using blockchain technology; and a physical proprietary tracer embedded in our fibre. This allows brands to verify with a scanner whether a finished garment contains genuine recycled Recover fibre.

What does Recover’s new material, Recover Fabrics, offer to businesses turning towards more sustainable products?

First, it offers desirable fabrics with very low environmental impact. It also enables brands to work faster while using sustainable recycled fibres, making it suitable even for faster fashion or capsule collections. The fabrics make it possible to apply recycled cotton to a wider range of products and achieve higher quality than before.

The launch includes four collections: the Elite Collection, developed with Portuguese mill TMG, focuses on high innovation and quality in woven fabrics for suiting, outerwear, and overshirts. The Premier Collection, developed with Spanish mill Textil Santanderina, is another woven range that emphasises versatility and everyday essentials like chinos.

The Core Collection focuses on t-shirts, hoodies, and other jersey pieces — which are cost-competitive essentials with soft jersey and fleece. Finally, the Essential Denim Collection offers denim staples that balance performance, style, and sustainability through recycled fibres.

How does Recover ensure quality consistency across recycled and blended fabrics?

Consistency is especially important because recycled cotton production is still highly fragmented, leading to uneven quality and major challenges with transparency and traceability.

At Recover, quality comes first. When we establish a new production plant, our first hires are typically in quality control. We have around 30 scientists and technicians working in labs across the three continents where we operate. They conduct extensive testing on both raw materials and finished fibres, examining chemical and mechanical performance.

In addition, our proprietary ISO-certified manufacturing process — developed over decades of working with recycled cotton — ensures a consistent, high-quality output. Recover’s roots go back 75 years, and that experience is built into our processes today.

What benefits do Recover Fabrics offer to medium-sized businesses without the capacity to source at the fibre level?

The key benefit is easy and quick access to high-quality, low-impact fabrics without compromising on traceability. This allows smaller businesses to focus on design and creativity, knowing the product’s quality, impact and production standards are guaranteed.

Even larger fashion and luxury brands are showing strong interest, as the collection offers a simple, ready-to-use solution for creating more sustainable products without having to overhaul existing processes.

How do you work with partners to optimise the production process?

We work closely with our partner mills, combining our expertise in recycled fibres with their deep knowledge of fabric construction. This direct collaboration allows us to innovate and optimise every stage of production to ensure the highest standards of environmental impact, quality and performance.

As an innovation-driven company, we constantly test and refine our processes. The 50 fabrics in our launch collection came from extensive trial and error — identifying where recycled cotton works best across key garment categories and achieving the highest possible quality through the right blends.

What excites you most about Recover over the medium- to long-term?

The combination of our purpose, our strategic brand partners and our team. Together, we are enabling large-scale sustainable change in the fashion industry — creating both business value and inspiration. We’re working with major customers who are truly committed to transforming how the industry operates, and that momentum is growing every day.

Our team is another major source of pride. We are a world-class group with over 20 nationalities, and that diversity helps us deliver high-quality products while elevating the perception of sustainability itself.

For us, sustainability isn’t only about responsibility or reducing negative impact: it’s also about joy and creativity. Fashion is driven by emotion, and we want sustainable products to be just as desirable and inspiring as any other. The goal is to make recycled materials synonymous with quality, beauty and genuine low impact, without compromise.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Recover as part of a BoF partnership.