ZURICH – Textile traceability specialists Haelixa have announced a new collaboration with Soorty, one of Pakistan’s largest vertically integrated denim manufacturers. Soorty will use Haelixa’s DNA marker technology to support its claims related to the use of recycled cotton in their denim products.
Haelixa’s DNA marker allows tracing from fibre (virgin or recycled) to finished garment. The company has developed a unique DNA marker to be able to identify Soorty’s recycled cotton. The marker is solved in liquid and then applied to textile waste before mechanical recycling takes place in the spinning mill in Pakistan. Spot checks are done with the intermediate products as well as tests with the final garment to prove the product indeed contains the recycled cotton. The test is based on PCR technology that is 100 per cent reliable and has forensic validity.
Haelixa will also offer Soorty’s clients the use of its label ‘Marked & Traced by Haelixa’ for garments. This means Soorty customers can inform the end consumer about their supply chain transparency efforts using a solid technological traceability solution. The label can be complemented with a QR code linking to a dedicate landing page, where the brands can bring their product story to life and enable customers to access supply chain and product verification data.
Mr. Mansoor Bilal, VP marketing research and innovation, at Soorty said: “With the emerging concerns for environment, Soorty as a responsible stakeholder of society has pledged to make its manufacturing process more sustainable, transparent and traceable. After taking variables and standards into consideration, we are pleased to announce that we have collaborated with Haelixa, the pioneer of sustainability solution. Haelixa will help us attain the goal of traceability via DNA marker, which is a novel technology to trace the roots of finished goods. Irrefutably, Haelixa and Soorty’s partnership will prove to be successful in the journey of sustainability.”
Michela Puddu, co-founder and CEO of Haelixa said: “With recycling becoming a major trend, there is also an alarming number of unsubstantiated claims related to the use of recycled fibre in garments. To differentiate and re-build consumer trust more and more manufacturers and brands use markers to be able to authenticate recycled fibres in the final garment.”
