AWARE Blockchain Recycled Fabric has just been launched by Dutch startup ‘The Movement’, bringing to market an exciting initiative focused on authenticating the fashion supply chain using blockchain. In a fashion industry where words like “organic”, “fair trade”, and “sustainable” are becoming over-used and under-quantified, this technology offers a future where consumers can know precisely the materials a garment is made from.
AWARE™ applies tracer particles to the raw recycled cotton and then uses blockchain to guarantee the material that enters the supply chain is the same that comes out as apparel. By offering validation, transparency and verification to AWARE Blockchain Recycled Fabric, this hybrid technology can work to eliminate greenwashing and establish more trust in the textiles industry.
Recycled Cotton
AWARE™ is looking to champion recycled cotton through the AWARE Blockchain Recycled Fabric scheme- in turn, reducing the amount of new cotton required to be produced.
It’s estimated that producing 1kg of conventional cotton requires 9,800 litres of water, with the harsh reality that much of the world’s cotton is produced in countries already lacking a ready supply of drinking water.
It is estimated that 80% of the cotton required for the fashion industry already exists, with most destined for landfill. The increases in textile recycling schemes can help to save this cotton from reaching landfill, allowing it to be re-purposed into recycled cotton. AWARE™ can then be used to authenticate this process for the end consumer.
Blockchain Textile Production
The process works with several carefully selected partner spinners adding the patented AWARE™ tracer material into the original recycled feedstock. A virtual representation of the yarn/fibre is then created as a digital token and stored on a de-centralised and open-source blockchain.
Brands can now use the yarn in the same way as any other raw fabric. The difference is, that at the end of production the final product can be scanned to confirm it’s made from the original certified recycled materials.
This confirmation is then linked to the related digital token stored on blockchain, the original purchase order and the AWARE™ Certificate of Authenticity. All this information will then be transferred to the digital wallet of the retailer or brand, complete with an easy-to-understand blockchain interface documenting all environmental impact savings.
AWARE Blockchain Recycled Fabric: The Future
Supply chain transparency will become one of the key battlegrounds for fashion businesses striving to become more sustainable. The sustainability of the specific material being used is still up for debate as every fabric has its pros and cons. For the brands, however, being able to conclusively show the end consumer exactly where their product has come from is going to be extremely powerful. Especially when this level of transparency becomes expected across all brands.
“There’s a real pressure for change: to make sustainability actually mean something. Everyone realises that ‘sustainability’ is a term that’s if it’s not fully empty, it’s at least vague. Brands and retailers now recognise we need to be measuring impact reduction – in terms of water use, energy, waste, CO2 and all the rest.”
Feico van der Veen, Founder and Director, The Movement
Further information on the AWARE Blockchain Recycled Fabric can be found https://www.the-movement.com/
Further Reading: Digital Fashion & Sustainability: How NFTs and VR can solve fashions sustainability problem. Read More