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A new Wrangler jean debuting at Walmart showcases the mainstream potential of a circular supply chain.
The Kontoor Brands-owned launched the Wrangler x Accelerating Circularity jean on Monday, a men’s straight fit jean available in black and indigo, made with mechanically recycled post-consumer and post-industrial cotton.
The $39.99 jean contains 26 percent recycled cotton (50 percent post-consumer, 50 percent post-industrial), as well as virgin cotton and elastane for stretch. Kontoor Brands-owned Wrangler announced last April that was joining Accelerating Circularity to develop a new 5-pocket jean from upcycled denim.
Accelerating Circularity, an action-oriented nonprofit focused on textile-to-textile recycling systems at commercial scale, said the collaboration with Wrangler set a new benchmark for post-consumer recycled content in commercially available denim.
Breakthroughs include cross-brand collaboration for standardized yarn and fabric specifications, which allowed trials to meet supply chain minimum order quantities; an “unprecedented level” of post-consumer mechanically recycled cotton in commercial denim product; and products that passed commercial performance tests benchmarked against major brand standards.
Wrangler x Accelerating Circularity
The collection was made possible through collaboration across the textile supply chain trial members that share a commitment to sustainability. Bank & Vogue collected post-consumer waste and Martex collected post-industrial waste. Mechanical recycling was done by Giotex and Estopas. Parkdale Mills produced the yarns, and Cone Denim produced the fabrics.
As part of Accelerating Circularity’s U.S.-based trials, 23 tons each of post-consumer and post-industrial cotton were successfully recycled. The group’s next major goal is recycling 325 tons of post-consumer cotton, polyester and man-made cellulosic materials.
“This launch is a proof point that circularity is not just a concept—it’s happening now,” said Karla Magruder, founder of Accelerating Circularity. “Through collaboration across the supply chain, we’ve shown that used textiles can become a viable feedstock for new products at scale.”
