Ministry of Supply Zero° is our commitment towards a more sustainable future. We believe that through science there is a better way:
Recycling Materials, Reducing our Carbon Footprint and Reusing Garments.
The apparel and footwear industry is one of the top contributors to global carbon emissions, contributing 1.7 billion tons of greenhouse gases - over 8% of the global annual carbon output according the United Nations, which is more than aviation and the shipping industries combined. This is due to the significant energy used for extraction and production of materials as well as the operation of factories, largely powered by coal. We believe that through science, there’s a better way.
Analysis from the MIT Consulting Group with data from Stockholm Environment Institute, ECTA, UK 2019 GHG Report and Systain.
Typical dress shirt based on fabric milling and production in Fuzhou, China and local electric emissions intensities.
Aero Zeroº and Aero Shirts are milled in Taiwan, now with solar power and local electric emission intensities.
Consumer use includes washing, drying and dry cleaning energy consumption over garments lifespan.
Reducing our Footprint at Scale
Using recycled polyester can reduce the CO2 footprint of a fabric by over 59% as it doesn’t require the refining and polymerization stages from petroleum. Over the past 24 months, we’ve been working to develop and re-engineer our main product lines with significant recycled content compositions - at least 45%, and in many cases up to 100%. We started with Aero Zeroº, but in the next six months you’ll see Apollo, Composite and Juno become primarily recycled PET. Because of these efforts, this year we’ve shipped 130% more units with significant recycled content, and by next year that figure is projected to be 243%.
We use several variants of polyester, including PET, PTT and PBT - and with PTT we’re able to use a biological process to convert sugarcane and corn sugars into bio-based polyester. This further reduces our reliance on petroleum-based fibers, and is featured in our Kinetic garments reducing the material CO2 emissions by 10%.
32% of fabric is lost in the cut and sew process of a typical garment shirt.
We recapture excess scraps and send them back to our fabric mill, where it is recycled into new fabric to minimize our biggest source of fabric waste.
We use computerized knitting, which is an additive manufacturing process that only uses the material that is need for the garment.
Our Built-to-Order experience for our 3D-Print Knit and Aero shirts minimizes excess and obsolete inventory, allowing garments to be made in the right fit and size on-demand.
Shipping by sea versus air reduces the CO2 emissions for a typical shirt by 3.6 Kg. It’s a significant difference that motivates the whole industry to shift from their reliance on air-shipping.
We’ve partnered with CHOOOSE to invest in carbon-reducing projects that are Gold Standard certified.
We’ve chosen to invest in a solar photo-voltaic power project in Haijin, China that powers our factories through the grid.
Our investment will support the operation of 1,400 solar panels, making renewable energy more accessible in our country of manufacture.
You can learn more about this project here.
Singtex is one of our long-time partners who is a pioneer in the development and milling of sustainable performance yarns and fabrics. We use S.Cafe, one of their proprietary processes to create coffee-derived sustainable materials. It’s a collection of odor-controlling moisture-wicking, waterproof and insulative fabrics that are made of coffee grounds and recycled polyester.
We’ve just launched our latest edition of the Composite fabric which now features 45% recycled polyester blended with merino wool - it’s the evolution of our next-to-skin fabrics.
Viscose is an exciting yarn, one which when blended is becoming a pillar of our Scientifically Natural approach to products - and it itself is a blend of science and nature.
We’ve determined, that of the various environmental challenges - climate change will have the largest impact in the shortest timeline, and so we’re prioritizing it as our primary initiative.
Today we’ll be discussing the specific actions we’re taking as company already to minimize our impact, and compensate for what is left.
Based in Taipei, Taiwan, Singtex is a pioneer in sustainable performance fabrics. We first worked together in 2013 to create our first pants, and we continue to draw inspiration from their vision for innovation from the fiber level, commitment to the environment, and involvement with their community.
Bio-based polyester is a new alternative to petroleum-derived polyester, and becomes a power means of carbon sequestration that is translated into wearable fabrics.
Carbon dioxide, waterless dyeing circumvents the need for large amount of water use, boiling or filtration - but it requires some complex machinery. Fortunately, we’ve partnered with Singtex, a leader in clean dyeing procedures for performance fabrics and have been able to use this process in our Mercury, Dry Days and Responsive fabrics.
The “make” stage is an exciting opportunity for innovative sustainability. We think about the “Three R’s,” Recycle, Reduce, and Reuse, throughout this stage.
We use a high grade of polyester that is sourced from Japan. Sorting is an energy intensive process, but Japanese recycling protocols minimize incinerated waste by separating recycling into multiple streams. Clear PET bottles have their own stream, which ensures we’re able source 100% Grade 1 Recycled Plastic without contamination.
Recycled PET bottles are ground into chips and are extruded under heated pressure through a nozzle with a bi-component shape that gives the fiber a helical structure creating it’s elasticity.
The filament is a long continuous fiber that is spun onto spools and into intricate multi-tone patterns that are individually dyed. The twisting and spinning process also contributes to the strength, softness and stretch of Aero Zeroº
Aero Zeroº fabric is milled under 12.2 acres of solar power at Shinkong’s Dashi fabric mill - one of the most energy efficient mills on the planet. The fabric is woven on the Belgian Piconal Optimax weaving machine - the most energy efficient weaving machine in the industry.
We use Durable Water Repellants (DWR) in many of our core fabric platforms (Kinetic, Doppler and Momentum) to give them the ability to repel water and stay dry in the rain.