Denim is a wardrobe staple all over the world: timeless, versatile, and always on trend.

It has been worn as a badge of youthful rebellion in the 1950s, embraced by hippie culture in the 1970s, and revived in countless forms through the decades, from high fashion runways to everyday streetwear.

Since its creation in 1873, it has endured for over a century and a half. Yet, for most of that time, far less attention has been paid to the environmental cost of its production, and only in recent decades has its impact begun to be acknowledged.

The truth is, the jeans industry has traditionally operated within a linear “take–make–waste” model, relying on resource-intensive production processes that consume vast amounts of water, use chemicals for dyeing and finishing, and generate significant textile waste.

And while, globally, vast majority of old clothes (jeans included) end up in landfills, global demand shows no signs of slowing. Each year, billions of new denim garments are produced, fueling a cycle of overproduction and waste.

But while these numbers may seem daunting, many players and innovators in the denim sector have turned the challenge into an opportunity, bringing fresh perspectives and new processes to denim production that are far less harmful to the environment. So, it’s not bad news only.

And what are these innovator leveraging? Mainly, circularity: an approach in which jeans are designed, produced, worn, and eventually recycled in a closed loop rather than discarded.

In this article, we look at the innovations making denim more circular, the manufacturing hubs driving this change, and a new partnership working to accelerate progress for brands, designers, producers, and sourcing professionals alike.

It is the start of a new chapter for jeans, and the details are worth knowing, so keep reading.

Why Circularity Matters for Denim

The environmental pressures posed by denim production have reached a tipping point.

Consider water usage: even with some efficiency gains, finishing a single pair of jeans still consumes around 30 liters of water on average, which is above the sustainable benchmark of 22.5 liter.

Traditional denim processing also involves harsh chemicals and dyes that can pollute waterways and pose health risks.

And after all that impact in manufacturing, a typical pair of jeans may be worn for only a couple of years before being thrown out, with little infrastructure to recycle the fibers. This linear system leads to enormous waste; as noted, only a small fraction of textiles are truly cycled back into new clothing today.

Innovations Driving Circular Denim

Transforming the denim supply chain from linear to circular is no small task, but across the industry, innovators are developing technologies to make “circular jeans” a reality. Many of these advances target the most resource-intensive stages of denim production:

Waterless and low-impact finishing

Traditional denim finishing (such as stone washing or bleaching) is water and chemical-heavy. Today, proven solutions like ozone fading, laser abrasion, nanobubble washing, and smart foam dyeing can dramatically cut water and chemical use in finishing.

For instance, replacing conventional wash processes with ozone or enzyme treatments can achieve vintage looks with a fraction of the water. These technologies exist and have shown success, the challenge now is scaling up adoption.

Like we’ve mentioned in a previous article, the tools for progress exist. What’s needed now is faster, wider adoption, especially from major production centers and brand partners who can influence standards across the supply chain.

Recycled and regenerative fibers

The core of circularity is keeping materials in use. A key innovation area is fiber recycling: turning old denim back into new fiber.

Most current recycling is mechanical (shredding used cotton jeans into fiber), which has limitations in fiber length and quality. However, this is rapidly improving, and chemical recycling methods (which can dissolve and regenerate fibers, even from blends) are on the horizon for denim.

Alongside recycled cotton, many mills are also blending in regenerative and organic cotton, that are grown with practices that restore soil health and use less water, to replace conventional cotton.

The Blue Jeans Go Green organization has been tackling this piece of the circular denim puzzle. It collects denim made from cotton, recycles it back to its original fiber state, and transforms it into something new.

Over the years, the program has partnered with brands like Anthropologie, Madewell, and others to run take-back initiatives that turn old jeans into insulation and other products.

It is a strong example of closing the loop but only partially, as it focuses solely on cotton jeans, not addressing blends, stretch denim, or the broader systemic challenges that keep most jeans from being truly circular. But it’s a start, and should be acknowledged.

Image sourced from PR Newswire

Circular design and materials

Making jeans truly recyclable often requires rethinking what they’re made of. One breakthrough has been addressing the problem of elastane (spandex), the stretchy component in many modern jeans that does not recycle or biodegrade easily.

In Italy, Candiani Denim, known as “the greenest mill in the blue world”, developed Coreva™, the first biodegradable stretch denim technology. 

Coreva uses a plant-based rubber yarn instead of synthetic elastane, allowing stretch jeans to maintain performance while fully breaking down at end-of-life.

In our vision, garments are made from biodegradable and compostable materials and ingredients which, at the end of their life, can return to nature and be used to grow the new fibers that will be woven into tomorrow’s clothing.

This means no lingering microplastics and a material that can safely compost, moving us closer to true circularity in jeans.

Candiani has also pioneered a chitosan-based sizing (Kitotex®) to replace toxic chemicals in weaving, and low-impact dye processes, proving that heritage mills can lead on sustainability without sacrificing quality.

Image sourced from Denim Freaks

Candiani Denim samples in various washes and colors hanging with tags that read 'I AM MAGIC' and 'From Stretchie to Veggie,' showcasing sustainable fabric innovation.

Closed-loop manufacturing

Circularity isn’t only about materials, it’s also about cleaner, closed-loop processes. A standout example is Saitex in Vietnam, one of the world’s most sustainable denim factories. 

Saitex recycles 98% of the water used in production and turns its waste sludge into bricks to build affordable homes. The facility is powered partially by renewable energy and is LEED-certified. By redesigning the production process to minimize waste and even repurpose by-products, Saitex exemplifies how circular principles can be applied at the factory level.

Similarly, other mills are investing in renewable energy, wastewater recycling, and take-back programs for scraps. These innovations reduce the environmental footprint of each pair of jeans and integrate the concept of resource reuse at every step.

Thanks to efforts like these, a more sustainable denim value chain is emerging. And as regulations tighten and consumers demand change, such innovations are not just experiments but necessary. The next step is to connect and scale these solutions across the global supply network.

A Global Denim Powerhouse Embraces Change: Turkey’s Role

Achieving circularity in denim will require changes across the entire global supply chain, including in major production hubs.

Turkey stands out as a denim powerhouse that can influence this sustainable transition. The country has a long textile history and today boasts one of the largest and most renowned denim industries in the world.

Turkish denim mills are celebrated for their high quality fabrics, known for a soft handfeel, durability (jeans that hold their shape), and innovative washes and color. It’s no surprise that many of the world’s leading brands, from Levi’s to Diesel and Tommy Hilfiger, source denim from Turkey.

 Image sourced from NTC Jeans

This significant manufacturing base means Turkey is poised to be a leader in denim circularity as well. The momentum is already building: Turkish suppliers and government bodies have shown eagerness to participate in international sustainability initiatives.

In fact, when business Denim Deal (which we will explore in more detail soon) were first launched in the Netherlands, partners from Turkey, along with Pakistan, Egypt, Bangladesh, and others, were among the first international stakeholders to join the effort.

Turkish denim mills like Bossa have been active proponents of using recycled cotton and were part of the Denim Deal’s working groups from the outset.

This early involvement makes sense: Turkey’s industry has the technical expertise and scale to implement innovations (for example, several Turkish factories already use advanced water-saving dyeing techniques and are certified for organic and recycled cotton use).

Being a production hub also means Turkey stands to gain from circular practices,developing recycling facilities for post-consumer textiles, adopting eco-friendlier processes, and marketing itself as a sustainable sourcing destination for global brands.

The Denim Deal: From Pilot to Global Movement

No single company can make denim circular on its own. It requires collaboration across the value chain. This is the ethos behind the Denim Deal, a “groundbreaking global initiative uniting brands, manufacturers, recyclers, and policymakers to transform the denim industry.”

Their mission is both simple and bold: to close the loop in denim and expand the use of post-consumer cotton in its production.

To drive this forward, they have set a moonshot goal to catalyze the creation of 1 billion pairs of jeans with at least 20% post-consumer recycled (POCR) cotton by 2030. 

Through this commitment, the Denim Deal establishes a new benchmark for circularity and resilience in the denim industry.

The original Denim Deal (2020–2023) brought together dozens of stakeholders, from apparel brands and denim mills to collectors, recyclers and government agencies, all committing to increase the use of recycled cotton in jeans.

The results were groundbreaking: a coordinated push to use post-consumer fiber led to millions of jeans produced with recycled content, proving that a closed-loop system for denim is feasible at scale.

Perhaps most importantly, it fostered unprecedented cooperation and knowledge-sharing in an industry that traditionally operates in silos.

Following the success in the Netherlands, The Denim Deal has reached international success. Today, the Denim Deal has almost 50 members from ten countries, including universities, NGOs, factories, brands and technology providers.

Since 2020, Romain Narcy (denim expert, sustainability advocate and co-founder of Rematters) has been deeply involved in the Dutch Denim Deal, first as a signatory and later as a member of its steering committee.

In 2024, alongside Nicolas Prophte, he co-founded the Denim Deal International Foundation with the aim of scaling the initiative globally.

In fact, in march 2025, France launched its own Denim Deal with more than 40 partners, including brands, recyclers, and NGOs, coming together to push post-consumer recycled cotton into mainstream denim production.

Kicking Off the French Denim Deal in Paris”. Image from: www.denimdeal.net

Taken together, these developments highlight why the Denim Deal is so important. At its core, it is tackling two of the denim industry’s toughest challenges:

• How to mainstream post-consumer recycled cotton in new jeans,
• And how to align brands, mills, and recyclers on common circular standards.

With regional hubs across EMEA, North America, Latin America, Sub-India, and APAC, the Denim Deal is mobilizing local ecosystems to close the loop in denim. The initiative threads innovation, circularity, and resilience through every stage of production, setting the tone for a more sustainable and future-ready global denim economy.

A Collaborative Path Forward: Denim Deal × World Collective Partnership

As circular denim initiatives scale up, connecting the right suppliers with the right brands becomes crucial. This is where World Collective’s digital sourcing platform and the Denim Deal’s network are finding common ground.

World Collective operates a global sourcing digital platform that bridges the gap between certified materials, suppliers and sourcing professionals, making it easier for brands and designers to find vetted, high-performance material options.

By filtering suppliers based on certifications, traceability and product specifics, the platform brings transparency and efficiency to sourcing and buying.

What makes us different is that we’re building the infrastructure the industry actually needs: smarter sourcing systems, shared visibility tools, and a collaborative space where brands and suppliers of all sizes can thrive.

-Quote by Júlia Vilaça, Comms Manager at World Collective.

Recognizing the synergy with its mission, the Denim Deal has partnered with World Collective to amplify circular denim supply chains through this digital ecosystem.

Key elements of the Denim Deal × World Collective partnership include:

• Supplier introductions and onboarding: The Denim Deal will introduce its network of recommended circular denim suppliers, those mills and manufacturers excelling in recycled materials and sustainable practices, to World Collective’s team. These suppliers will be vetted and onboarded onto World Collective’s digital platform, expanding the sustainable sourcing options available to brands.
• Vetting for standards: World Collective will verify that each Denim Deal-introduced supplier meets traceability standards as part of the onboarding. This vetting ensures that global sourcing professionals can trust the quality and claims of the suppliers featured.
• Co-branded supplier collection: The partnership will create a dedicated, co-branded “Denim Deal Collection” on the World Collective Marketplace, spotlighting those vetted suppliers and their innovative denim materials. Sourcing professionals using the platform will be able to easily discover and engage with Denim Deal-approved suppliers, a one-stop shop for circular denim sourcing.

For brands and designers, this collaboration is an encouraging development. It means that sourcing recycled and sustainable denim materials will become more streamlined.

 Vetted suppliers from the Denim Deal network can be accessed through World Collective’s user-friendly platform, complete with data on certifications and compliance.

Additionally, for suppliers, it offers visibility and connection to international buyers who are specifically looking for circular solutions.

And for the industry at large, it’s a template for how B2B partnerships can break down barriers: by combining Denim Deal’s on-the-ground innovation network with World Collective’s digital infrastructure for traceable sourcing, the gap between good ideas and widespread implementation narrows.

Closing the Loop, One Pair of Jeans at a Time

The journey toward circular denim is far from finished, but it is clearly gaining momentum. What started as isolated innovations (a water-saving machine here, a recycled yarn there) is evolving into a cohesive movement to reinvent how jeans are made and remade.

Collaboration is the common thread: whether it’s competitors aligning on common standards through the Denim Deal, suppliers and tech innovators working hand-in-hand, or sourcing platforms teaming up with industry coalitions, the denim sector is discovering the power of partnership in driving change.

In the end, achieving a circular economy for jeans will mean that a pair of old, worn-out jeans is no longer waste, but the feedstock for the next pair,again and again. Getting there will require us to keep challenging the status quo, investing in innovation, and scaling what works through smart partnerships.

The Denim Deal × World Collective partnership is one inspiring example of this principle in action. Many more will be needed. But if we continue to share knowledge and work collectively, we can ensure that the world’s favorite blue fabric has a circular future.