Case studies

Recycling is becoming increasingly important in a world coming to terms with the challenges of environmental and climatic change.   At home we are all learning to recycle glass, paper and plastic and for many of us recycling has become a part of our lifestyle.  At Coats we also take this issue very seriously and have developed products made from recycled raw materials in both our Crafts and Industrial divisions.

Rowan Purelife Recycled Handknitting Yarns

Under our Rowan handknitting brand we have introduced the Purelife collection of yarns made from recycled garments.   The first stage of the process is to sort the garments - these may be old and used, faulty, or even new - by colour and quality.  After being sterilised, the garments are then sorted by fibre composition (e.g. put all the 100% cotton ones together, all the 100% silk garments together etc.).  It is at this stage that superfluous parts such as any linings, buttons, ribbons, seams and trims are removed.  The sorted garments are then cut into pieces and introduced into a fabric shredder that reduces them to loose fibres.  These are then processed to make regenerated fibre, which is then spun into the cotton, silk and viscose yarns of high quality. 

In this way we not only recycle materials which might otherwise end up in a landfill, but we also produce yarns which can be made into fashionable garments with a vintage allure. Since launching the Purelife Revive and Renew brands three years ago, we have sold over 27 tonnes of yarn.

EcoVerde Industrial Sewing & Embroidery Threads

We recognise that consumers increasingly want to know more about the sustainability of the products they buy and how they are made.

Coats EcoVerde is the umbrella brand that we use for our range of environmentally friendly products which are intended for the garment industry.  Coats EcoVerde recycled polyester was the first of these products to be launched and is a sewing and embroidery thread range made from recycled plastic (PET) bottle flakes. 

The PET bottle is a very useful container but it is a problem for the environment as it is non-biodegradable.  With millions of such bottles being produced daily around the world, the disposal of the used bottles has become a major concern, but the EcoVerde range gives them a new lease of life!  The bottles are collected, washed, sorted, and ground into flakes which are then depolymerised back into their original components.  When this material is re-polymerised into chip form, extruded and drawn, it becomes a purified filament yarn from which EcoVerde recycled polyester sewing and embroidery threads are made.

Three versions of the thread have been produced: two designed for lockstitch and chain stitch derived stitch types, plus a trilobal version of EcoVerde recycled polyester, which has heightened lustre, for use in embroidery.

In addition to the recycled polyester range, Coats has its EcoVerde organic cotton sewing thread, made from the best quality Giza organic cotton staple fibre.  This is available in an undyed state (for sewing post-dyed garments), or in a wide selection of colours using only dyestuffs certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard).

At Coats we created a Restricted Substance List (RSL) which identifies all the harmful chemicals and dyestuffs which are not allowed into our thread and zip manufacturing processes.  We are proud of the fact that our RSL is considered to be one of the most rigorous in the industry.  Following are three examples where we have ‘gone the extra mile’ in reducing or eliminating potentially harmful substances from our zip manufacturing processes…

Although all of Coats standard enamel zip finishes are safe to the end consumer and meet all of the relevant international RSL standards, we have developed a range of water-based coloured enamel coatings which have effectively eliminated volatile organic compounds (VOC) onsite.  The main challenge in moving to this new technology was to achieve at least equivalent wash fastness and product application performance as the epoxy or acrylic based colour coatings used by other zip manufacturers.  This has been achieved and our factory in Germany has completely switched to water based colour coatings.  During 2012 this will become company-wide practice throughout Coats.

Our team in India has been working with specialist chemical engineers to eliminate selenium from the chemical product which is used to oxidise the teeth of our metal zips.  Selenium is restricted under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), the EU Directive for toys, and by certain key customers.  Whilst selenium is not detectable in any of our final zip products, it is our intention to remove all traces of potentially harmful substances from our manufacturing processes and so safeguard end consumers and the environment.  The new process, which will also be rolled out in Asia during 2012, will provide ‘best in market’ durability and performance, and will also reduce the impact on the environment.

Where it is not possible to completely eliminate potentially hazardous substances from our supply chain, we will reduce the amounts used in order to comply with all customers’ requirements and legal obligations.  For example, copper is an essential component in some of our metallic zip products.  As well as reducing the amount used to an absolute minimum, Coats has developed a special protective coating which effectively ‘seals in’ the copper, thus preventing any migration of copper from the zip, even after harsh or lengthy post- treatments.  Metallic zip products which are treated with our unique “Protecto” finish comply with the stringent Oeko-tex Standard 100 Class 1 (for babywear) and thus afford protection from copper ingestion.