As the demand for recycled cotton in textiles is growing, it is important to substantiate the recycled fiber content and origin (e.g pre- or post-consumer waste, organic or not) in textiles. This can be done with physical supply chain traceability in place. Haelixa DNA markers are easily applied to the raw material or to semi-finished products at any production step. A dedicated landing page (accessed through a QR code on garments) allows customers to visualize the processing stages where the DNA marker has been verified. In its pilot with Pakistan denim mill manufacturer Soorty, Haelixa successfully claimed post-consumer waste with its DNA-based traceability solution.

The challenges to using traceability on denim are that some physical markers are not readable or detected on the end product when markers are applied at the early stages. This is due to the harsh industrial processing that denim undergoes, (e.g bleaching and dyeing.) However physical traceability is needed to substantiate circularity in supply chains.

Recently Haelixa has for the first time validated the recycled cotton traceability from post-consumer waste (PCW) to newly produced garments using Haelixa’s DNA markers. Haelixa provided a rationed amount of the solution to the post-consumer waste facility at the denim factory, where it was sprayed as an aqueous suspension directly onto the garments. The post-consumer waste then continued in the usual processing where it was blended with virgin cotton, spun into yarn and cut and trim to fabric, and then the final garment. During each of these stages, Haelixa DNA markers were identified and verified with qPCR, confirming that post-consumer waste material is present all the way up to the final garment. A dedicated landing page (accessed through a QR code on garments) visualizes the processing stages where the DNA marker has been verified. 

This method allows businesses with circular supply to avoid energy and costs towards retro-engineering their own traceability solutions. Ensuring traceability accounts that circular supply chains are circular.

Compared to previous traceability approaches, where cotton is typically marked during ginning or spinning, this case study demonstrates how GOTS-approved DNA markers expand the traceability a step further into the post-consumer waste. As a consequence, Haelixa certifided recycled cotton is authenticated and traceable already from post-consumer waste until finished garment using Haelixa’s DNA markers.This opens the opportunities for anyone in the value chain to verify recycling claims, this way building trust and collaboration in the circular supply chains.