The conversation around denim sustainability begins with traceable fibers, and Indian denim mill Arvind Limited is the latest to set up a responsible foundation for its products.
The mill is beginning a partnership with blockchain-enabled digital transparency platform TextileGenesis for better transparency throughout its supply chain. The technology is used by sustainable fiber providers and other supply chain partners including Lenzing and Levi’s.
The platform enables digitization and traceability of any textile asset such as fiber, yarn, fabric or garment through what it calls “Fibercoins”—or blockchain-based digital tokens—that any textile company can directly link to an asset.
This is just one part of a larger push for technology-based traceability, noted Aamir Akhtar, CEO of lifestyle fabrics—denim for Arvind Limited. “At Arvind Denim, it is our constant endeavor to bring the latest in design and innovation to our key partners and customers backed with a promise of sustainability. This is yet another step in that direction. We are elated to embrace this new technology which will prove impactful in coming times.”
Arvind has recently doubled down on its initiatives for transparency, first by joining the Ellen MacArthur Jeans Redesign project for circular denim design, and later by supporting a Fashion For Good pilot project that drives cotton farming in developing regions where climate and resources prove challenging.
As a result of the new partnership with TextileGenesis, some of the mill’s most sustainable offerings, such as its single-origin non-conflict cotton Renaissance range of recycled cotton, polyester and other man-made fibers, will include full track and trace details.
According to Amit Gautam, CEO and founder of TextileGenesis, “sustainability and traceability are really two sides of the same coin”—a concept it said Arvind fully embraces with its dedication to responsible production.
For years, Arvind Limited subsidiary Arvind Envisol has worked to expand its Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) wastewater technology beyond India. In 2017, it collaborated with the Ethiopian government to set up plants at Hawassa Industrial Park, and just last year, it announced a strategic partnership with Hong Kong’s Epic Group, one of the world’s leading garment manufacturers, to reduce the latter’s environmental footprint across Bangladesh, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Jordan and elsewhere in India. With this and other efforts, the company continues to “create opportunities beyond conventional boundaries” and drive the denim supply chain forward.