Parkdale Mills and Intrinsic Textiles Team Up To Reduce Synthetic Microfiber Pollution and Textile Waste

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Andrea Ferris, Intrinsic Advanced Materials
Email: andrea@intrinsictextiles.com

GASTONIA, NC and HAYWARD, CA, September 12, 2018— Parkdale Advanced Materials, Inc., the innovative fibers and yarns division of Parkdale Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of spun yarns, and Intrinsic Textiles Group, LLC, have announced the formation of Intrinsic Advanced Materials, a joint venture to bring CiCLO Sustainable Textile Technology to market.

CiCLO textile technology allows polyester and other synthetic materials to biodegrade like natural materials do in wastewater treatment plant sludge, sea water and landfill conditions. CiCLO is the first textile technology to market that apparel brands can easily implement at the manufacturing level to take responsibility for reducing synthetic microfiber pollution generated during washing, and minimizing plastic accumulation in landfills caused by discarded textiles.

Recent studies claim that annual estimates of plastic microfiber pollution in the oceans is equivalent to more than 50 billion plastic bottles by weight. While several researchers are currently working to quantify microfiber pollution contributions from textiles and specifically which textiles are the main sources, there is industry agreement that microfibers are shed during the washing cycle. Additionally, textile waste to landfill is a significant environmental concern. According to the US EPA, about 5% of landfill mass is textile waste. Considering that greater than 60% of the world’s textiles are synthetic materials, over 40 million pounds of synthetic “plastic” textiles are sent to landfill every day in the US alone.

CiCLO is also ECO PASSPORT certified by OEKO-TEX, a third party verification process demonstrating safety for use in sustainable textile manufacturing and conformance to the MRSL of the ZDHC Program.

“The Parkdale team has been working with Intrinsic Textiles Group for quite some time to vet CiCLO technology. We’re confident that CiCLO is the best solution for synthetic microfiber pollution and unrecycled textile waste. The joint venture is a strategic fit, leveraging each company’s strengths, and represents Parkdale’s commitment to continual innovation for our customers. We couldn’t be more excited to help bring CiCLO to market.”, commented Charles Heilig, President and CEO of Parkdale Textiles Division.

“We are pleased to add CiCLO to the Parkdale Advanced Materials family of brands and are encouraged by the opportunity to be a solutions provider to our customers in the environmental responsibility and sustainability platform.”, commented Anderson D. Warlick, Chairman and CEO of Parkdale, Inc.

“Parkdale is contributing considerable resources and expertise to enable CiCLO to lead the textiles industry in sustainable solutions. Their partnership presents a powerful opportunity for us to significantly scale up manufacturing and quickly make product available to customers worldwide, ultimately making the greatest environmental impact.”, said Andrea Ferris, CEO of the new joint venture.

For more information about CiCLO, please visit ciclotextiles.com.

About Parkdale Mills

Established in 1916, Parkdale is the world’s leading manufacturer of spun yarns. Their success is the direct result of relentless commitment to providing innovative and cost-effective solutions to customers globally. Their vision for the future revolves around a perpetually changing supply chain that demands faster response, superior service, enhanced speed to market and solutions to environmental issues. They are known in the industry for challenging conventional methods in order to provide the very best in operational efficiency, machinery capabilities, and technological advances.

About Intrinsic Textiles Group

Intrinsic Textiles Group, LLC, is a San Francisco Bay Area company that was founded by veterans from the uniforms and branded merchandise industry. The company’s mission is to develop and commercialize sustainable and closed loop solutions for textiles. They have been doing R&D and testing on CiCLO, their first invention to be commercialized, for several years to create a solution that meets the demanding durability requirements for textiles.