texfash: Aware integrates physical tracers into raw materials and records supply chain data on a public blockchain, creating a 'phygital' traceability system. Could you elaborate on how this system enhances transparency and trust in sustainable textiles, and how it addresses the challenges of verifying sustainability claims in the industry?
Koen Warmerdam: Most sustainability claims today are easy to make and hard to verify. Aware solves that with a phygital traceability system: combining physical tracers in the material itself with digital records on a public blockchain.
This means every batch of fibre is both physically marked and digitally tracked. The tracer proves the material is what it claims to be. The blockchain logs every transformation step, automatically, immutably, and without third-party edits.
The result? A verified chain of custody, from fibre to final product. No more spreadsheets. No more guessing. Brands can prove their claims. Producers get credit for their work. And recyclers can trust what arrives.
Your partnership with Baichuan Resources Recycling focuses on combining recycled polyester with dope-dyeing technology. How does this collaboration contribute to reducing environmental impact, and what role does Aware's traceability play in ensuring the sustainability of the final products?
Koen Warmerdam: Our partnership with Baichuan tackles two major impact areas at once: material waste and dye pollution. By combining recycled polyester with dope-dyeing technology, they significantly reduce water usage, energy consumption, and chemical discharge, three of the most resource-intensive parts of textile production.
While physical tracers aren’t compatible with dope-dyeing, Aware enables traceability through digital batch-level data. Each lot of recycled material is registered on our platform and accompanied by verified documentation at key transformation steps, capturing fibre origin, dye method, and impact metrics in a Digital Product Passport.
This gives brands more than a sustainability claim, they get verifiable proof. And producers like Baichuan can showcase their innovation through trusted, tamper-proof data. It’s a model for what circularity needs next: measurable impact, even without physical tagging.