Recover joins Turkish Ünteks Group to boost industrial use of its recycled cotton

Madrid – Spanish company Recover, a recognised industry leader in the global production of recycled cotton fibres, has today announced a partnership agreement with Turkish textile company Ünteks Group. Through this new alliance, both companies will collaborate to promote the use of recycled cotton within the textile and fashion ecosystem.

According to the Spanish company, under this alliance, the Turkish Ünteks Group will use Recover's recycled cotton as a raw material in its industrial processes to create a distinct series of both garments and knitted fabrics. This offering will be concentrated around a dedicated collection within its range. The collection will be expanded over time, contributing to the alliance's objective of scaling up the industrial use of Recover's recycled cotton.

To achieve this goal, both companies will leverage their respective capabilities and experience. Recover specialises in manufacturing recycled cotton, while Ünteks Group is a vertically integrated group capable of handling the entire process from fabric manufacturing to dyeing, printing, and final garment production.

With over 30 years of experience, the Ünteks Group's production plant in Turkey has a current capacity of up to 1,500 tonnes of fabric and one million garments per month. This volume, combined with the Turkish manufacturer's proximity to European fashion companies, makes it an ideal partner for Recover. The collaboration will help accelerate the industrial-scale adoption of its recycled cotton fibres.

Matthew Neville, commercial director of Recover, emphasised that in addition to this proximity and industrial scale, “one of Ünteks's main strengths is its ability to transform circular knitted fabrics into finished garments with a high level of consistency.” This combination of strengths and unique characteristics “makes them an ideal partner for our collection” of recycled fibres.

Recover works with the objective of “turning recycled cotton into everyday products that brands can trust on a large scale.” The Spanish company summarises that “by combining innovation with industrial-scale manufacturing, Recover and Ünteks Group are amplifying the role of recycled cotton in circular knitwear manufacturing, introducing sustainable materials into everyday product categories.”

With a minimum of 20 percent recycled cotton

Implementing recycled cotton fibres into traditional textile production chains is a complex process and is not without risk. If not managed correctly, it can result in low-quality items that fail to meet the demands of consumers, and consequently, of fashion and textile brands. This highlights the importance of the preliminary research and analysis conducted by companies like Recover, which specialise in textile innovation.

For this partnership, Recover guarantees that all fabrics and garments produced by Ünteks Group will contain a minimum of 20 percent Recover recycled cotton. The Spanish company emphasises that this percentage provides the ideal balance of performance, consistency, and reduced environmental impact, while also offering enhanced traceability for the garments and fabrics.

“In circular knitted fabrics, small variations can affect the fabric's behaviour during the production stages,” noted Hakan Kılıç, CEO of the Turkish Ünteks Group. He added, “a significant part of our work with Recover has involved adjusting and refining every step of the process to ensure the material performs consistently, from the fabric to the finished garment.”