Haelixa Makes Egyptian Cotton Product Traceable

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Haelixa Makes Egyptian Cotton Product Traceable

DNA markers stay safely embedded in the material and withstand industrial processing, ensuring traceability from source through to finished garment. Within the scope of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) initiative ‘The Sustainability Pledge’, to improve transparency and traceability for sustainable garment and footwear supply chains, Swiss company Haelixa has traced Egyptian cotton from the source up to premium shirts. The UNECE and United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) has been developing over the period 2019-2022 policy recommendations, implementation guidelines, a call to action and a traceability toolbox including blockchain and DNA tracing solutions, which has been implemented in few different textile supply chains. Haelixa says it is proud to be part of the group of experts that develops such policy recommendations and conducts projects with key industry players to set traceability benchmarks and later develop them into standards. Fashion brands are often responsible for complex global value chains and traceability is the needed tool to enable trust, transparency and credible sustainability. The magnitude of the supply chain traceability challenge can be overwhelming for brands, but the UNECE initiative framework facilitates the alignment with suppliers, provides the necessary guidance and the needed tools, with Haelixa as physical traceability provider. To make the premium shirts traceable, Haelixa has developed a unique DNA marker to label the raw material, premium Egyptian cotton. The DNA marker has been applied as fine spray to GIZA 96 lint cotton in Borg Al Arab, Egypt and used to produce the finest fabric by Swiss manufacturer Weba. Once applied to the fibres, Haelixa’s DNA markers stay safely embedded into the material and withstand the industrial processing, ensuring traceability from the source until the finished garment. Samples of lint cotton, yarn, and fabric at different steps were verified with a test based on PCR, and the correct DNA marker was detected, thereby enabling the identification of the premium product, of its origin and the specific supply chain. The forensic data obtained were recorded on a blockchain system provided by UNECE. The marked fabric was used to make Hugo Boss cotton dress shirts. “In cases like this one, where the material is of the highest quality and the product is shipped from one facility to another for premium processing, adding physical traceability is critical to ensure that the origin, quality and processing claims can be backed up," says Gediminas Mikutis, CTO and co-founder at Haelixa. Maria Teresa Pisani, Economic Affairs Officer and Project Lead at UNECE, emphasised: “Traceability and transparency are crucial elements to protect environmental, social, and human rights along global value chains. At UNECE, we aim to enhance traceability approaches by exploring new and innovative solutions that help identify and address negative impacts in the fashion industry. Therefore, it is only right that we collaborate with Haelixa, and engage in a shared ambition as part of ‘The Sustainability Pledge’. The complementation of UNECE blockchain pilots with Haelixa DNA markers is a great way to substantiate the digital world with the physical reality and is a right step forward to a sustainable value chain transformation at scale.” Haelixa X Nettle Circle: Marking and tracing local nettle from the Himalayas In June, Haelixa partnered with Nettle Circle to provide the first availably known traceable nettle fibre. The project is initiated to bring traceability to nettle fibre grown naturally in the Himalayas. Nettle Circle provides a sustainable regenerative natural fibre that is versatile, high-performing, circular, and now traceable with Haelixa marking technology from bark to end consumer product. This next generation of natural fibres grows wildly and can be cultivated with a marginal ecological footprint. In Summer 2021 the first batches were marked with a unique Haelixa DNA marker made specifically for Nettle Circle to confirm the authenticity of the Himalayan origins of the wildly growing nettle plant. Nettle bark is extracted from the nettle plant to produce fibres, yarns, and eventually textiles. To ensure traceability at the source, the nettle barks are marked on-site with the unique DNA marker formulation, which is GOTS and OekoTex Standard 100 compliant. The robustness of Haelixa DNA markers has proven to withstand raw material transformation into fibre and all stages of industrial processing, The markers were verified and detected in the produced yarn with a quick PCR forensic test. By verifying the presence of this unique DNA marker in a garment, it can prove that the garment is made of nettle which has been responsibly sourced in the Himalayas by the Nettle Circle. As opposed to established textile commodities, having an early collaboration with Nettle Circle, allows nettle to get transparency right from the beginning. This results in a new level of visibility and accountability across the supply chain. “We are excited to support Nettle Circle in their efforts to bring traceability into nettle value chains and promote the use of such fibres, whose production has a low environmental impact. By providing forensic evidence of fibre origin and identity, we are helping to establish transparent supply chains and credible sustainable alternatives, which is even more relevant for emerging options such as nettle, where there are no formal certification routes,” said Michela Puddu, CEO and co-founder at Haelixa.