FildiUSA, a North American producer of recycled cotton yarn, has announced that its Ecotec recycled cotton-blend yarns have been granted Control Union’s Global Recycle Standard.

The Global Recycle Standard validates both a yarn’s recycled content as well as the sustainable and socially responsible manner in which it is produced. Fildi says it is the first yarn company in the United States to earn the prestigious recognition.

“We are proud that our products and processes meet the very highest standards,” says Steven Usdan, president of FildiUSA. “With this critical GRS certification, our customers can be certain that when they use our Ecotec  yarns, they are truly making a positive impact on the world in which we live.” To date, environmentally responsible companies like Whole Foods and Rachel Roy have used Ecotec yarns in their textile products.

Ecotec recycled cotton-blend yarns are made from new, pre-consumer cotton textile scraps that would otherwise be discarded in landfills. According to Fildi, the repurposed fabric scraps are collected from cutting operations, sorted by colour, reprocessed, blended, and re-spun into yarns.

“Not only is landfill waste eliminated but, because the cotton fabric scraps are already coloured, Ecotec yarns can skip the dyeing process thus saving water and reducing environmental effluents. Repurposing the cotton fabric scraps also saves the land, water, and pesticides associated with growing new cotton,” says Fildi.

 “We’ve been making these high quality, Ecotec recycled cotton-blend yarns for over a decade,” continues Usdan. “As consumers and manufacturers are drawn to the myriad benefits recycled yarns offer, our Ecotec yarns will stand out for their excellent quality and cost effectiveness and now for their unique GRS certification.”

 Ecotec yarns are available in a full assortment of stock and custom colours, spinning counts, and blends and the company says they are ideal for making bright, durable knit and woven fabrics that can be used in apparel, home textiles, and a variety of applications. In addition to being GRS certified, Ecotec yarns are also Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified to be free from more than 100 substances believed to be dangerous to human health.