Zero Waste

At LILYSILK, we’re proud to provide customers with the finest silk products to enhance their everyday lives and help them Live Spectacularly. As 2023 comes to a close, we’re not only celebrating this year’s achievements fashion, but the strides we’ve made in sustainability.

As a company, we take environmental responsibility seriously, and are taking practical steps to ensure we’re doing our part to protect the planet.

A Year In Review

The apparel industry is one of the world’s largest contributors to pollution, from the chemical dying of textiles contaminating water, to the release of CO2 into the atmosphere and microplastic pollution in our oceans. We believe beautiful clothing and a beautiful planet shouldn’t be mutually exclusive, which is why we started our LILYSILK Zero Waste Movement project, advocating for zero waste, zero scraps and zero inventory.

zero inventory zero waste zero scrap

zero inventory

zero waste

zero scrap

zero inventory

zero waste

zero scrap

zero inventory

What is Lilysilk “zero inventory”

LILYSILK’s “zero inventory” model is our promise to customers and the planet to provide sustainable silk products. After the customer places the order, our manufacturing facility produces their garment within 48 hours, and ships the package through express delivery with an average of just 2-3 business days to reach the destination.

What we do

To ensure each garment is made efficiently, our enterprise resource planning (ERP) system transfers the garment data to our automatic precision fabric cutter, which can cut fabric pieces in under one minute. From there, the fabrics are sent to our production team where each individual barcode is scanned through an app to create custom sewing instructions.

zero waste

why zero waste

The average production of a garment will generate 25% waste since the remaining material cannot be reused to make full-sized garments after cutting. This waste can add up to over 5.6 tons of leftover fabric in a single year.

what we do

However, using our Zero Waste method, we are able to convert this 5.6 tons of surplus material into additional silk products including approximately 8,000 eye masks and 6,000 protective masks.

5.6 tons

of surplus material into additional silk products

5.6

tons of surplus material into additional silk products

8000

eye masks are from
surplus material

6000

protective masks are fromm
surplus material

Zero Scraps

Why zero scraps

In the United States, the average adult throws away approximately 70 pounds of clothing each year, 95% of which could be recycled for another purpose. To address this issue, we partnered with Terracycle®, allowing customers to recycle their clothing and give it a second life that benefits communities.

check out our advice for maintaing and lengthening the lifespan of your items.

What we do

In just half a year, over 350 pounds of LILYSILK fabrics were successfully recovered, with over 1300 pounds of clothing expected to be recovered by the end of this year, and hopefully 3000 pounds by end of 2024.This recycling program is an exciting opportunity for LILYSILK customers to enjoy their silk products for years to come, while also ensuring the long-term protection of the planet.

350

pounds middle of 2023

1300

pounds end of 2023

3000

pounds end of 2024

More Eco- Approach

We take an evidence-based approach to sustainability, with a focus on driving long-term impact over short-term trends.

quality assurance

Quality control is of the upmost importance at LILYSILK, which is why all our silk fabrics are certified according to the international OEKO-TEX CLASS 2 standard. This means our customers can trust that their silk products are safe, skin-friendly and free from harmful substances. Since silk is a natural protein fiber produced by the silkworm, the fabric is naturally biodegradable. Within a few years in the natural environment, silk decomposes into nutrient-rich compost to give back to nature.

Optimize packaging

Improper packaging contributes to large amounts of waste and environmental pollution. That’s why, in addition to our fabrics, LILYSILK’s packaging is also created with sustainability in mind. In 2022 we made 99% of our outer packaging degradable, with the goal of achieving 100% degradable packaging next year.

99%

of our outer packaging are degradable now

100%

of our outer packaging will be degradable by the end of 2026

Eco-Friendly Packaging

We are committed to sustainable packaging through numerous initiatives with environmental benefit. This includes simplifying formats, converting 120.4 tons of conventional box packaging entirely into paper bags in 2023, saving 227 trees.

Our packaging materials achieves forest stewardship certifications like FSC for responsible forestry and Ecopure for chemical usage guidelines. We exclusively partner with SGS-accredited suppliers upholding strict, audited measures of social and ecological impacts.

We’ve also increased adoption of biodegradable plastics using organic additive that accelerates plastic biodegradation process less than 10 years, compared to 500+ years for conventional plastics.

120.4

tons paper usage has been reduced

≈

227

trees

Join our Zero waste movement now!

Together, we’re innovating to Live Spectacularly and sustainably with environmentally-friendly fashion that’s good for people and the planet!