Bangladesh-based manufacturer Harnest has unveiled the Responsible Trims Collection, a new platform intended to support the use of recycled, next-generation and biodegradable trims in garment manufacturing.
Trims, which comprise all materials and components used to construct a garment, excluding the main fabric, can account for more than 40% of a typical item’s bill of materials, and have been largely overlooked to date when it comes to textile recycling, according to Harnest.
The Responsible Trims Collection, which is integrated into Harnest’s manufacturing operations in Dhaka, is built on partnerships with five firms, OceanSafe, Ambercycle, BlockTexx, Indorama Ventures, and Jiaren. Together, they span textile-to-textile recycling, advanced polymer regeneration, and biodegradable material innovation.
‘Better material choices’
“Trims are one of the most overlooked constraints in circular fashion,” commented Assef Shaikh, CEO of Harnest. “Brands may focus on the main fabric, but the threads, elastics and labels within a garment also influence whether it can be more effectively recovered, recycled or redesigned for lower-impact outcomes.
“The Responsible Trims Collection is about making better material choices viable in the real world – at scale, and with commercial discipline.”
OceanSafe
The first material to be made available via the platform is OceanSafe’s naNea polymer, a synthetic material positioned as an alternative to polyester, which achieves more than 93% biodegradation within 99 days in marine conditions, and is also recyclable alongside PET.
It is currently available across sewing threads and elastics, offering cost parity and lead times similar to conventional trims.
“Working with Harnest means we can now put responsible trims into the hands of brands at the scale and price point that makes adoption a real choice, not a compromise,” a spokesperson for OceanSafe commented.
Over the course of this year, further phases of the Responsible Trims Collection will include additional partner technologies, Harnest noted, adding that the launch of the collection ‘reflects a growing industry need to address trims and garment components as part of more practical circular product development’. Read more here.
