Attraction (asi/37442), a Lac-Drolet, QC-based apparel supplier, is taking steps toward circularity, with the news that 100% of the textile scraps from its Quebec-made Ethica brand are being diverted from landfills.
“We are very proud of this new development,” said Julia Gagnon, vice president of operations at Attraction. “We have been looking for ways to upcycle our textile scraps for several years. It was unacceptable to send the remnants of our quality organic cotton and recycled polyester apparel to the landfill.”
Prior to this development, the supplier has made investments to limit cutting room waste, including using automated positioning software and an automatic cutter. However, even with those advancements, roughly 18% of fabric ended up as scrap, which was sent to landfill sites. To solve the issue, Attraction has partnered with Mécanec Transformation Textile (MTT) Inc., which shreds the scraps and turns them into padding, nonwoven material, or insulating and soundproofing products. The MTT agreement ensures that around 30 tons of textile waste will be diverted from landfills, according to Attraction.
This isn’t Attraction’s first effort to reduce its environmental impact. The company has launched several upcycling efforts over the years, including using unsold inventory for screen-printing tests or rags, according to Sébastien Jacques, vice president of business development. “No clothing is thrown away at Attraction, and we’re very proud of that,” he added.
Attraction has also been carbon neutral since 2022, offsetting 100% of its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions through Less, a carbon-offset organization. Attraction also said it uses recycled cotton to produce its Ethica bags, T-shirts and fleece.
The supplier said it will continue to look for ways to increase its circularity and lessen its environmental impact going forward.
“The ultimate goal would be to eventually use our own textile scraps to create a locally made recycled yarn that could then be used to manufacture our Ethica products,” Gagnon said.
Upcycling, where waste is transformed into something of higher value, rather than being discarded, has been growing more popular in promo. Beer to Bags, for example, turns single-use polypropylene malt bags from craft breweries into reusable totes and accessories. Last year, Santa Ana, CA-based Ameramark (asi/53455) announced that it was cutting textile waste at its Ensenada, Mexico, facility by upcycling scraps into products like scrunchies and cosmetic bags. Redwood Classics Apparel (asi/81627) has worked with garment-upcycling company Preloved on a number of projects over the years, including a bag collection made from single-use street-pole banners from the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.
