American Apparel Goes Green
Los Angeles-based imprintable-Tshirt manufacturer American Apparel is looking to improve the environment. The company is working with recycling company Environmental Textiles to recycle its leftover fabric scraps.
Owner Dov Charney, who has taken a stand about improving the working conditions of his employees—from instituting a health program to paying a living wage—said being an advocate of the environment is a new chapter for his company.
“We’re making a genuine effort to manufacture our product on a more environmentally friendly basis—but we are only at the beginning stages,” said Charney.
American Apparel produces more than 30,000 pounds of scrap from cotton T-shirts, underwear and other apparel products each week. Until recently, the company disposed of its leftover scraps at landfill sites in and around Los Angeles.
Environmental Textiles, which is based in Claremore, Okla., plans to arrange for the transport of the materials to its plant, where the fabric scraps will be turned into usable fiber, which will then be spun into woven and non-woven fabric that can be applied toward domestic or industrial use, the company said.
Co-owner Cynthia McBride said the process was created to take good cotton and put it into high-end markets. Medical, cosmetics, personal care and hospitality are among the largest markets the company caters to.
Currently, American Apparel is working to modify the system to make it more efficient by separating colored fabrics and bagging the pieces for shipping, a very timeconsuming process. —Claudia Figueroa
