The textile industry is the second most polluting business sector in the world after oil companies, as it produces 20% of wastewater and 10% of carbon emissions; that is more than the sum of all international flights and cargo ships. Even if something changes. Until recently, 2,130 to 3,078 liters of water were required to produce one pair of jeans., in addition, a consumption determined by the water effect of its raw material: cotton, whose cultivation monopolizes 3 to 4% of the liquid element used for any use on planet Earth. With its commitment to sustainability, a young tech company was able to see the need to conserve water and make its apparel production more sustainable for the future.
This is how Jeanologia was born as a Valencian company founded in 1994 – amid a wave of factories moving to North Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia in search of lowering labor costs. textile-clothing industry and already trusted by multinational companies like Levi’s and Inditex, among others. For this reason, more than 35% of the 6,000 million jeans produced in the world every year are produced with the revolutionary technology of this company, which fades and tears fabrics and processes them in an environmentally friendly way. period. .
created by Enrique Silla (València, 1964), member of a textile business saga, current CEO of the company and co-owner of Jeanologia already gets 95% of its turnover from outside Europe. With clients on five continents, the business group owns 40% of the capital controlled by the US mutual fund Carlyle (among other companies, this fund also participates in Codorníu).
“Textile production will return to Europe and North America. In five years, about a fifth of production activity will go to where consumption is. You have to produce what is sold.” The statement made by the Jeanología executive reveals where the plans of a company that already has a presence in 61 countries are headed. Its aim is to eliminate all discharges from the textile industry “to make traditional blue jeans an industrial and technological benchmark for a better world.says Silla. After Alex Wagenberg, managing director of The Carlyle Group, joined the company, he valued the opportunity to partner with “a company that is transforming the textile industry with clean, efficient production processes, lower energy costs and a much more respectful approach to the environment”.
‘Urban factories’
Specializing in machine design, laser and sustainable technologies for textile finishing, Jeanología achieved a turnover of 62.5 million Euros in 2022. It is headquartered in Paterna (Valencia) and employs 205 people in its ten subsidiaries with which it operates. Machinery and service exports account for 90% of its turnover. Working with brands like the company Diesel, Hilfiger Denim, Pepe Jeans, G-Star, Gap, Uniqlo and H&M, among others. One of his most ambitious projects is the expansion of so-called urban factories. It already has 15 in cities in the United States, Mexico, Turkey, India, and Bangladesh. These are eco-sustainable production facilities of advanced and automated digital production based on on-demand and located close to the consumer. With just 10 employees and an area of 500 square meters, they can produce 1,000 to 3,000 jeans every day.
Jeanología built one of these factories in the middle of the Las Vegas desert where there is no water. “Jeanologia’s commitment to Mission Zero 100% of the waste generated in the production and finishing of blue jeans, from denim to the final garment, is eliminated, water use is reduced to almost zero and clean water is returned to nature”, concludes Silla.