Repreve announces Champions of Sustainability award winners

For the sixth time since 2016, the Repreve Champions of Sustainability Awards are being given to brands, retailers and textile mills that are using sustainable fibres in their products. The global awards honour the transformation of single-use plastic bottles into new consumer products, thus saving them from the waste stream.

Repreve is made from recycled plastic bottles and embedded with tracer technology FiberPrint and verified by U Trust certification. “With traceable and authenticated bottle content, every Champion receives their own Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) data, showing the lifetime environmental impact of their products avoided carbon emissions, and water savings,” explains Repreve maker Unifi in a press release.

The 2023 Repreve Champions of Sustainability awards will be presented to 33 brand and retail partners that have transformed ten million or more recycled plastic bottles, among them Aeropostale, Boardriders, Buff, Gap Inc., Gildan, Haggar, Handes Brands, Ikea, Inditex, JC Penney, Jordache, Klopman, Kohl’s, Levi Strauss & Co., Lovesac, Marks & Spencer, Momentum Textiles, Piping Hot, PVH, Tapestry, Target, The North Face, TKO Evolution Apparel Inc., Under Armour, VF and Wolcom.

“We are thrilled to honour our 2023 Repreve Champions of Sustainability,” said Unifi CEO Eddie Ingle. “At Unifi, we deeply value our extraordinary partners who have demonstrated that sustainability is an integral part of their business practice. Together, we will continue to work with these companies to reduce negative environmental impacts, and be good stewards of our planet and our future, while inspiring our industry to do the same.”

Among 59 textile partners that have transformed 50 million or more recycled plastic bottles through the use of Repreve performance fibres are Aby Spinning Mills, Antex Knitting Mills, Cone Denim, Contempora Fabrics, Hamrick Mills, Milliken, Xintiansi Textile and YDTEX.

More than one billion bottles

The awards also feature a special category for those brands that have transformed over one billion bottles. They are Nike, Polartec, Target and Walmart who will become automatic members of the Repreve Billion Bottle Club.

“Partnerships are a vital element of innovation, and the foundation of which Unifi is built,” said Jay Hertwig, senior vice president of global brand sales at Unifi. “Our partnerships are mutually beneficial; we are helping brands and mills meet their sustainability goals while they help us continue to be a catalyst for a more sustainable future through impactful changes in their fibre choices.”

Other special category winners are Deckers Brands (Teva, Ugg) and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. for more than 100 million bottles transformed, American Eagle for more than 25 million bottles transformed in one year alone and H&M for their usage of Repreve Our Ocean fibres and yarns that have transformed more than 600 million plastic bottles.

Through Repreve, Unifi has till date transformed more than 35 billion plastic bottles into recycled fibre for new apparel, footwear, home goods and other consumer products.