1.UNIFI has been a pioneer in fiber-to-fiber recycling for years now. What does that journey look like from your vantage point as CPO? What's changed in what's possible versus when you started? 

At UNIFI®, our REPREVE® recycled performance fiber and yarns use multiple waste streams, including post-consumer polyester bottles, ocean-bound plastic bottles, fabric waste, and yarn waste, to create virgin replacement materials. At the start of REPREVE, which we launched in 2007, we focused on using waste that was available: yarn waste and recycled plastic bottles.  Through our own innovation and development of intellectual property, we created a trusted, virgin-drop in, FiberPrint® traceable product that the world’s leading brands and retailers trust.  Over the last two years, we have evolved beyond yarn waste and recycled bottles and invested in technology and broadened our journey from recycled to now, including circular materials, has been exciting for us as we have recently launched our product advancements in textile-to-textile recycling with REPREVE Takeback™ and ThermaLoop™ Insulation.These products use textile waste to create new, high-performance fibers and insulation products. This is the next frontier in building a truly circular economy, and we’re investing in the brands, partnerships, and innovation to make it a reality. Over the years, UNIFI and its brand partners have recycled over 46 billion bottles and 1 billion T-shirts’ worth of textile waste through the REPREVE platform.  

2. What's in UNIFI's product portfolio right now that excites you most? Where do you see the biggest opportunities for innovation in recycled fiber? 

We are very energized about our circular polyester products available globally at scale, REPREVE Takeback recycled polyester and ThermaLoop Insulation that are made using our proprietary Textile Takeback™ augmented thermomechanical recycling process.  The recycling process allows us to transform post-consumer and post-industrial textile waste into new, REPREVE products.  Check out our video to see this manufacturing process at our REPREVE Recycling Center in Yadkinville, North Carolina: https://repreve.com/videos/textile-takeback  

The impact of these products, as well as others in our REPREVE platform, are verified through third-party LCA data assessing global production, supply chains, and products including greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and water savings when using a REPREVE product instead of virgin. 

We also have a wide-variety of tech yarns, that couple sustainability with function to meet performance benefits at the yarn-level.  These tech yarns  can replace topicals or fabric finishes for more sustainable and longer-lasting inherent innovation. Our top-performing tech yarns include TruTemp365®, Sorbtek®, Fortisyn™, Chillsense®, ReComfort™ and more. 

3. You're on a panel about closing the loop through supply chain collaboration. In your experience, what's the biggest bottleneck that keeps brands, recyclers, and manufacturers from working together more effectively? 

One of the biggest challenges ahead is scaling textile-to-textile recycling in a way that’s both economically viable and globally accessible. The infrastructure for collecting, sorting, and processing textile waste is still catching up, and we need greater collaboration across industries to build it. There’s also a need to shift mindsets: seeing waste not as an end, but as a beginning. The good news is, we’ve proven it can be done, and now it’s about pushing innovation further and bringing more partners into the circular economy. 

4. What would need to happen - whether it's technology, infrastructure, or mindset shifts - for fiber-to-fiber recycling to move from niche to mainstream? 

A waste inclusive mindset is important.  Any time that we can take waste and transform it into a durable textile article with longevity, it is a win.  UNIFI has been recycling fiber-to-fiber for decades and continue to implement recycled fiber waste into the REPREVE platform through our REPREVE ReCirculate™ and REPREVE Nylon products. Our latest energy is around textile-to-textile recycling into our REPREVE Takeback filament and staple fiber products that are white dyeable and available globally at scale now, made from 100% textile waste.  The textile waste collected includes post-industrial and post-consumer fabric offcuts, misprints, and end-of-life garments.  Commitment from brands is what is needed – we need commitment to integration of these at-scale available yarn and insulation products and implementing them into consumer products.  This is when impact happens. 

5. When you think about successful collaboration in fiber-to-fiber recycling, what does that actually look like in practice? Are there specific partnership structures or agreements that work better than others? 

At UNIFI, we believe traceability and transparency are key to our recycling systems and important for supporting brands in their complex and global supply chains, so ultimately the consumer has access to the information. We are able to support our brands and customers globally with our inherent FiberPrint tracer embedded into all REPREVE products, allowing us to test fibers at any point in the supply chain — from resin to yarn to fabric to finished product — to verify the use of REPREVE through our U-TRUST® verification system. 

6. What kind of infrastructure, standards, or systems need to be in place to make collaboration easier? Is it technology, data sharing, certifications, something else, or a combination? 

Collaboration and communication always make systems work more seamlessly.  One of the big opportunities is around design products for circularity. To recycle textile materials in UNIFI’s Textile Takeback process, we work with brands on engineering design for recycling.  This could mean a mono-material garment or item made from 100% polyester, including trims like buttons and zippers that can be made from PET. We also work strategically with players throughout the value chain to look for opportunities like reclaiming 100% polyester supply chain waste  such as cut and sew waste, that goes to landfill today but can be recycled. 

7. What signals are you seeing that suggest the industry is actually ready to scale fiber-to-fiber recycling, or are we still in the early stages? 

Many major brands and retailers have formal goals to increase recycled polyester content and reduce virgin polyester use, with recent updates including goals to recycle textile waste in their supply chains or incorporate textile-to-textile materials in their collections. These commitments are increasingly tied to overarching climate strategies and reporting frameworks and help push demand signals upstream, which is crucial for scaling recycling infrastructure.  Evolving legislation and EPR schemes continues to influence the market as well. 

8. What made UNIFI decide to participate in an event like this? What conversations do you hope to have while you're here? 

We are here to support the entire, quickly-evolving industry.  Traceability, transparency, and the nimbleness of regionalized production offer key competitive advantages to brands that are seeking to evolve their product offerings. We are here to help brands meet those expectations with materials they can trust, while building a more circular, resilient future for apparel and beyond.  So often, we hear that there are wishful requests for products to be available that deliver on the ultimate value of being 100% textile-to-textile, globally available, and at the scale the industry needs.  And we are here to be sure that it’s known that we are here with those solutions right now!