Friday 15 March 2019

Green cotton group sells enough to make 1.5 billion pairs of jeans

A sustainable cotton group sold enough 'green' cotton in 2018 to make approximately 1.5 billion pairs of jeans.

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) says this is a historic level of uptake, with a total of 93 retailers and brands sourcing more than one million metric tonnes of its material.

It notes this is a 45% increase in uptake on the previous year and says its product, called 'Better Cotton', accounted for 4% of global cotton consumption.

The group aims to train five million cotton farmers and have its product account for 30% of global cotton production in the future.

Marco Baenninger, Head Trader Hand Picked Cotton at Paul Reinhart AG, said: "Better Cotton has become an integral part of the international cotton trade. It’s very pleasing to see that uptake from retailers has increased strongly over the last few years. However, there is still a lot to do.

"Some organisations are still sceptical but in the long-term they risk losing market share if they overlook more sustainable options. That says a lot about the success of BCI and other sustainable cotton initiatives and standards in promoting sustainably produced cotton."

Primark has just launched a new line of jeans made from 100% sustainable cotton.