The Ellen MacArthur Foundation was created at the beginning of the last decade, in 2010, with the aim of accelerating the transition of different industries around the world towards the circular economy. It works with governments, companies and academia to build a regenerative, sustainable and restorative economy through the design of its products.

Circular economy is known as the economic model which main objective is to generate circular production chains, thus, without “waste”. This is possible thanks to the incredible leap that technology has made, enabling better management of waste. For example, the scraps of fabric cuttings from one factory can be used by another to generate recycled fibers, or in the worst case to be reintroduced into the circuit as biomass for the boilers, as long as there is correct management of emissions and appropriate permits. In this way we would be saving in biomass of forest origin and we would be replacing thousands of trees with even more kilograms of fabrics that would otherwise go to a sanitary landfill or an incineration process without advantages.

The circular economy reaches all types of products and industries, for example in the wood industry, the sawdust generated in the processes of cutting and sanding the wood is accumulated and pressed to create the pellets that are one of the most viable options to feed boilers and avoid forest overexploitation.

The foundation operates in different sectors of the economy, some of the most important and with the highest priority are the food sector, the plastics industry, climate change and the textile sector through the Jeans Redesign program, the only program that has as a main character denim garment and its products and of which Blue Design has been a participant since July 2020.

The Jeans Redesign program includes brands, garment factories, spinning mills, and every step of the fashion industry supply pyramid. It has some of the most demanding requirements in the fashion industry, since it seeks that the denim garment is reusable from its design, among these requirements the following can be mentioned:

 

• The pants must withstand a minimum of 30 domestic washes without undergoing changes in their tone and texture.
• Stone washing, sandblasting or electroplating processes are not allowed (for trims). Additionally the use of chemicals such as potassium permanganate and chlorine are prohibited.
• Absolutely all chemicals used in production must comply with the requirements of level 1 of ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals).
• The fabric approved for use in the development of the project must not exceed a consumption of 25 liters per yard in its spinning process.
• The trims should be kept to a minimum and should be easily removable.
• The total composition of the garment must be made up of at least 98% certified organic cotton.

 

This program is one of the most demanding and we are happy to be part of it.