GHCL Ltd., India’s leading high quality textile manufacturer, has partnered with Applied DNA Sciences, Inc., USA (ADNAS) and Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) to launch traceable, recycled PET (“rPET”) bedding products under the brand “REKOOP” in the US market.
REKOOP was launched recently at the New York Home Fashions Week. GHCL has received an overwhelming response from retailers and importers in the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The initial focus will be on establishing and strengthening REKOOP’s presence in the US market before it is launched in other global markets.
GHCL is one of India’s leading manufacturers of home textiles, with an in-house spinning unit having capability to manufacture multiple varieties of 100% cotton and blended yarns at various facilities in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. With state of the art weaving, processing and cut & sew facilities in their plant
in Vapi, Gujarat, GHCL’s home textiles products are exported worldwide to countries like the UK, the US, Canada, Germany and other European Union countries and to Australia and New Zealand.
To further strengthen its presence in the home textile segment and to offer a solution that contributes in protecting the environment, GHCL has partnered with Applied DNA Sciences, which through itsCertainT platform forensically offers traceability to the recycled PET used in the manufacture of these bedding products. RIL is the fiber manufacturing partner for this line, which uses their eco-friendly Recron Green Gold fiber.
“We are proud to unveil “REKOOP”, the first fully source-verified recycled PET bedding product line which uses CertainT, Applied DNA’s proprietary traceability system that tags, tests and tracks the original r-PET pellets to finished products. This platform provides customers and brands with the highest level of trust in terms of the authenticity of their products. The customer today is increasingly becoming ecologically conscious and is shifting to making purchase decisions that support the environment. Based on these unique attributes, we anticipate a huge interest in “REKOOP”.”
– Mr. Manu Kapur, President and CEO, GHCL Home Textiles
Mr. Manu Kapur, President and CEO of GHCL Home Textiles, spoke in detail about the launch of REKOOP and the company’s commitment to providing an ecologically conscious and environment friendly solution to its consumers: “We are proud to unveil “REKOOP”, the first fully source-verified recycled PET bedding product line which uses CertainT, Applied DNA’s proprietary traceability system that tags, tests and tracks the original r-PET pellets to finished products. This platform provides customers and brands with the highest level of trust in terms of the authenticity of their products. The customer today is increasingly becoming ecologically conscious and is shifting to making purchase decisions that support the environment. Based on these unique attributes, we anticipate a huge interest in “REKOOP”.
Excerpts from the interview with Mr. R S Jalan, MD, GHCL
When and why did GHCL conceive the idea of introducing home textiles with recycled plastics?
Sustainability is one of the pillars of our core strategy, and we have been looking at identifying opportunities for the past couple of years where we can contribute towards making a difference, however small, in this direction. Using recycled pet in place of virgin polyester seemed the absolute right thing to do from the standpoint of ‘going green’. The idea to come up with a product or concept that had complete proof of evidence in terms of traceability came to us post the Egyptian Cotton traceability fiasco that one of the largest retailers in the US faced towards the middle of 2016.
Can you elaborate on the reason for collaborating with Reliance and Applied DNA Sciences for this project?
Reliance is the world’s largest producer of recycled polyester and manufactures an extraordinarily eco-friendly fiber called 
Recron Green Gold. Reliance’s manufacturing facilities and its products are beyond doubt the gold standards in this domain. We wanted to partner with the best, and hence this association with Reliance.
Applied DNA Sciences, Inc., thru its integrated CertainT platform, embeds molecular tags into the recycled PET, so that every fiber can be traced for authenticity right across the supply chain to the final product at the shelves of retailers. The CertainT platform is designed to tag, test and track synthetic fibers to provide transparency, traceability and trust throughout the textile supply chain.
Can you briefly explain the process of manufacturing bedding products using recycled plastics?
The Rekoop collection is the first bedding line to use 100 per cent source-verified recycled PET as well as cotton-recycled PET blended products. Rekoop bedding is made by recycling PET bottles into the most eco-friendly polyester fiber in the world, manufactured by Reliance Industries Ltd. This fiber is blended with cotton which is then spun into a Chief Value Cotton yarn, woven and then processed into an ultra-soft fabric.
It all starts when the PET bottles you’ve thrown are collected and bundled together in large bales. At their state-of-the-art plant in Barabanki, North India, the world renowned Reliance Industries commences the process of manufacturing recycled PET fiber. The labels and caps are removed and the bottles are thoroughly cleaned and separated by color. The bottles go into grinders where they are shredded into small flakes. The master batch is mixed in a pre-decided ratio with the PET flakes, which are then processed through an extruder and transformed into tagged r-PET fiber.
The fibers are spun along with cotton to make cotton / polyester blended yarn, at GHCL’s spinning facility in Madurai. Fabric is then woven, processed, cut and sewn into finished bedding products at GHCL’s integrated home furnishings manufacturing plant in Vapi. The CertainT certified products arrive at retail where customers, driven by a desire for proven sustainability and authenticity, can be assured of the integrity of their purchase.
What is the impact that such recycled products have on the environment?
A single sheet set uses 36 PET bottles for its production (250 TC, 60% cotton, 40% recycled PET). Hence, 36,000 bottles use a 
ton of PET, This corresponds to the reduction of 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space, a reduction of 9 barrels of crude oil consumption and a reduction of 6.5 metric tons of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
A million plastic bottles are consumed around the world every minute, and the number will increase by another 20% by 2021, leading to an environmental crisis if nothing is done about it. This is our contribution towards creating a sustainable future.
What does the brand Rekoop stand for and what is the product range that you offer under this brand?
Rekoop is the first fully source-verified recycled PET bedding product line. The product range includes Duvet Covers and Comforters, all with quite a few variants (washed / unwashed, solid / printed and the possibility of different fabric compositions – 70% cotton / 30% rPET and 80% cotton / 20% rPET).
GHCL launched Rekoop recently in the US. How was the initial response?
The initial response to REKOOP has been overwhelming. A large number of retailers and importers in the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand have shown interest in the concept. We are however in advanced conversation with a couple of global retailers for the possible exclusive placement of the concept.
When do you plan to launch it in other global markets?
At the moment, we intend to focus predominantly on the retailers we’re in conversation with for placement of this concept across their footprint, which in all cases goes beyond the US alone.
Currently what is GHCL’s presence in the home textile segment? Do you expect Rekoop to further increase your presence in the segment?
We have recently expanded our weaving capacity by 20% and our processing capacity by 25%, to 45 million meters of fabric per annum. In the spinning business, an airjet spinning project with 480 spindles is operational at Madurai. In the last 8 years, we have achieved a CAGR of 14% in the top line of our textile business.
We feel REKOOP will increase our presence and market share in the recycled bedding segment and will strengthen our passion for circularity.
Will GHCL look at more such innovation-driven product development to further enhance its brand and portfolio in the global home textile market?
Absolutely. We are currently working on solutions that help reduce the SKU count for retailers on Fitted Sheets, which will aid in inventory management and help expand the width and / or depth of the range within the same store space. We are also currently working on a wide range of wellness products, aimed at beauty and sleep.