Sofia, Bulgaria based Kingly Ltd. is one of only 52 GOTS-certified sock producers in the world. It is also claims to be the first zero-waste textiles company which creates sustainable products for the promotional industry. Accordingly, it has recently introduced an upcycling project, which retrieves textiles waste for the creation new products, rather than for recycling.

“One of earth’s biggest polluters is the textile and apparel industry and its environmentally detrimental activities that are contributing to the declining health of our planet. Recognizing that we are at an important crossroad, my team and I are dedicated to providing the best sustainable earth-friendly products,” says Rob Armour, CEO and Founder of Kingly.

“We are proud to announce a new initiative we call ‘The Kingly Upcycling Project’. The mission is to inspire and educate people on upcycling and repurposed design and how to do it on a larger scale.”

Production produces waste

During the manufacture of socks, small factory offcuts are produced. They are a mixture of cotton, nylon, Lycra, other elastane, and materials like polyester, polypropylene, and other fibres. Kingly says it is impossible for these offcuts to be recycled as there is no way that the different fibres can be separated. For this reason, they would normally go to landfill.

Retaining and re-using offcut waste

However, based on its commitment to a better, cleaner environment, and in line with its ISO 14001 Environmental Policy, waste fibres are now retained at Kingly. The leftover fibres find a new life as stuffing for printed pillowcases and for furniture.

Resource preservation

The demand for sustainable alternatives to the most popular textile merchandise products is rising. Kingly already help giants like Google, Samsung and Coca-Cola reduce their environmental footprint and save vital resources.

Up to the end of October 2022, Kingly says its clients have saved an astonishing 25 million litres of water, by choosing their award-winning upcycled socks in compostable bags as corporate gifts. Additionally, it says, 93,592 kW/h of energy have been saved, the carbon footprint has been minimized by 38,397 kg, and it has prevented 4,235 square metres of textile waste from going to landfill.

According to Kingly, a case study from 2021 shows that it helped Google save over 24 million litres of water with a single order of socks. In addition, energy consumption was reduced by 90,168 KWh and the process prevented the use of 1,826 kg of pollutants.

Kingly has also partnered with the developers of Polygiene, a technology that enables textiles to stay fresher for longer, reducing washing frequency and allowing further resource savings.

Kingly’s upcycled cotton socks in compostable bags and GOTS organic cotton socks have just been shortlisted for the BPMA’s Product Awards 2022-2023.

wearekingly.com