Pakistan’s leading green apparel manufacturer

Sponsored by Interloop

Otis Robinson, Industry 4.0 lead and editor at WTiN, profiles Interloop, a company that exists within the heart of the sustainability movement in Pakistan, a textile manufacturing hub. Sponsored by Interloop.

Pakistan’s textile industry demands meaningful change. Stakeholders, innovators and environmental advocates are hyper-aware of the potential that exists for the South Asian textile hub to become a leader in sustainability, circularity and social responsibility – working continually to encourage industry and governmental support of the vision. Case in point: Dr Yasir Nawab, professor at Pakistan’s National Textile University (NTU), highlights this potential in a new paper, and told WTiN in April 2025: “Ultimately, the goal is to transform Pakistan’s textile ecosystem into a globally competitive, circular and sustainable system that reduces environmental impact while creating economic value.”

One such company at the heart of this sustainable movement is Pakistan’s Interloop, an apparel manufacturer – and Pakistan’s largest listed textile company – with a firm approach to environmental and social responsibility. As the country’s first major company to receive Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) validation, Interloop set a powerful precedent that inspired industry peers to pursue similar commitments. The company has published comprehensive environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports annually since 2018 – well before ESG disclosure became common in the region — establishing early leadership in transparency and accountability.

Although no requirement exists within Pakistan that directly mandates textile manufacturers to publish sustainability reports, its government and proponents of the sustainability movement believe this is a key step towards meaningful action. In 2022, for example, Pakistan’s Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) introduced ESG disclosure guidelines to encourage standardised reporting practices. Interloop, emerging as a leader within this landscape, sets a benchmark for ESG integration and reporting and remains hopeful its peers take similar action.

In March 2025, its Sustainability Report for 2024 was published – a whopping 114-page document exploring the company’s ESG initiatives, alongside efforts to support environmental and social sustainability in the country. Despite business expansion – including the addition of a second apparel plant and two new hosiery plants in its Apparel Park – overall key findings revealed the company achieved a 9% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions (direct greenhouse gas emissions and energy use-related emissions, respectively). Its significance is huge: consideration for the environment and economic growth are not mutually exclusive. This cull in short-term emissions keeps the company on track for a 51% absolute emissions reduction by 2032; notably, the United Nations (UN) aims for a 45% global emissions reduction by 2030 – meaning Interloop is not only leading Pakistan’s change, but the worldwide effort too.

The company’s vision for industry did not stop there: its efforts to unite Pakistani communities on the sustainable mission were profound. Just as importantly, circularity emerged as a “major area for future value creation” for the company. These sizeable effects stand in contrast to traditional manufacturers who are entrenched in outdated, unsustainable methods of production, shrouded in opacity, unwilling to make change. They doubly showcase a company leading the sustainable change in Pakistan. Navid Fazil, chief executive officer (CEO) at Interloop, summarises: “Our report shows that with the right mix of vision, investment and collaboration, Pakistan’s textile industry can evolve from a volume-driven model to one defined by value, responsibility and long-term competitiveness.”

Pakistan’s Interloop, an apparel manufacturer – and Pakistan’s largest listed textile company – boasts a firm approach to environmental and social responsibility

A pathway to net zero textile manufacturing

While the company’s Sustainability Report addresses several industry-wide concerns regarding environmental sustainability, it first and foremost highlights how the textile manufacturer continues to address its own internal impacts on the environment. Research shows that most fashion brands could reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 60% for less than 1-2% of their profits, according to McKinsey & Company. Fauz ul Azeem, head of sustainability & chemical management at Interloop, says one of the top priorities at the Pakistan-based manufacturer is decarbonisation, particularly within Scope 3, which focuses on reducing indirect GHG emissions across an organisation’s value chain – including activities not directly owned or controlled by the company.

The report outlines a clear emissions baseline and a pathway to net zero, demonstrating accountability at a time when most suppliers still struggle with data gaps or lack of clarity. Other ESG goals include “growing the company’s LEED footprint, enhancing operational efficiency, switching to low-emission-intensive fuel and ramping up renewable energy”. This includes the use of solar power plants, biomass boilers and waste heat recovery boilers.

“We’ve spotlighted energy transition efforts, including renewable energy adoption and process optimisation, addressing the sector’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels,” explains Azeem, drawing attention to the 9 million kWh of energy saved in the last year. As part of its net zero ambition, Interloop is also exploring engagement with carbon markets, primarily to neutralise hard-to-abate emissions – particularly within Scope 3, where upstream emissions, raw materials and logistics remain challenging areas. A carbon market is a system that incentivises entities to reduce their emissions, and Interloop will wield it to catalyse broader impact.

The company’s ESG profile also notes that it saved 299 million litres of water. Interloop’s denim facility was designed from the outset, the company explains, to minimise water use – rather than relying solely on recycling at later stages. This was achieved by adopting innovative, alternative technologies such as nano bubble and Jeanologia’s Ozone (for waterless bleaching) tech – allowing Interloop to use 70% less water compared to conventional denim plants. For its efforts, Interloop earned the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Gold-Level Certification for its manufacturing facilities in Lahore. These successes and ongoing ambitions highlight Interloop as a standout manufacturer – and essential Pakistani changemaker – in its field.

Meanwhile, in a landscape increasingly shaped by regulatory pressures such as the EU’s Green Claims Directive and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Interloop report addresses the company’s detailed traceability initiatives. Its efforts cover raw material sourcing, pre-consumer textile waste mapping and digital tracking tools, and these steps made to demystify, authenticate and validate their supply chains, and positions Interloop as a credible partner in a landscape freshly informed by sustainable legislation.  

Fazil explains: “In Pakistan’s textile sector, where supply chains are often fragmented and undocumented beyond Tier 1, the need for traceability is especially urgent. Without it, manufacturers risk being excluded from future sourcing strategies or falling behind on regulatory compliance. Interloop is addressing this through a ‘design-to-disposal’ traceability vision built on digital integration, supplier engagement and innovation through [our digital traceability system,] Looptrace.”

Pakistan’s bid to become a circularity leader

The prospect of Pakistani businesses leading in the adoption of circular economy and recycling comprises the report’s most alluring talking points. Fazil explains: “The report offers a microcosm of the broader transformation underway in Pakistan’s textile sector – one that’s marked by ambition, but also complexity.”

Earlier in 2025, WTiN covered the aforementioned newly published report by the NTU and Estonia’s Reverse Resources. The paper investigated Pakistan’s textile waste recycling industry, asking whether the country has the potential to utilise textile waste to become a hub for circularity in the future. Its authors concluded that Pakistan – utilising its existing culture of reuse, recycling infrastructure and 1.16 million tons of annual textile waste – could become a global leader in circular textile systems.

Pakistan-based Interloop too exists firmly within this culture. Interloop’s ESG profile outlines its involvement in textile recycling: in 2024, it achieved an 80% diversion of solid waste from landfill and aims to reach 100% by 2026. It hit this target through several initiatives. For example, the company segregates sock waste and processes it in-house, explains Azeem, where it undergoes shredding and is spun into regenerated yarn. “Approximately 50% of the company's hosiery clip yarn requirements are met through this recycled material, reducing our reliance on virgin materials,” explains Azeem.

Beyond internal recycling efforts, Interloop collaborates with entities like Reverse Resources to map and enhance Pakistan's textile waste recycling infrastructure. This partnership aims to develop scalable solutions for textile waste management, positioning Pakistan as a potential hub for circular textile practices. Interloop also works to establish a local regenerative cotton supply in Punjab to “revive and enrich the agricultural landscape in Pakistan”. In addition, it has developed circular-by-design products, including Socklab^® by Interloop Europe – a 100% natural, fully biodegradable sock and the “world’s first Cradle-to-Cradle Certified GOLD sock”.

The company is additionally engaged in developing circular economy by leveraging waste from other industries, too. Each year, Pakistan produces 155,000 tons of bananas, writes the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, which results in 10 million tons of annual wastage to be burnt or discarded by farmers ^[1]. As a large contributor to environmental degradation, plentiful bids to turn banana waste into fibres have made the news – a call to which Interloop answered via its Loomshake yarn. This initiative not only diversifies the company's sustainable material portfolio, but also supports agricultural communities by providing additional income streams.

This too is key to its ESG profile: Interloop continually works to support not only the growth of the sustainable Pakistani industry, but its community.

Supporting the local community

As labour welfare and social compliance remain core issues across South Asia’s textile sector, Interloop is advancing multiple initiatives targeting gender equity, fair wages and worker well-being – “moving beyond policy claims to real outcomes”, says Fazil. For example, since 2015, the company has granted 566 scholarships to women pursuing bachelor’s degrees at the Government College Women University Faisalabad (GCWUF) – which the company says “reflects [its] long-term commitment to gender equality and empowerment through education” – while the company’s own management trainee program saw 45% female attendance.

Representing its commitment to local communities, Interloop currently reinvests 4% of its profits into community wellbeing. Fazil explains: “We’re deeply aware of the impact Interloop has on the lives and communities it touches. That’s why social sustainability is central to our ESG vision. Our roots are here, and we know the long-term resilience of our business is directly linked to the well-being of our local ecosystem.”

Fazil concludes: “Our mission is to be an agent of positive change. For us, progress isn’t just measured in targets met, it’s in the futures we help shape – within Interloop, our communities and the wider industry.”

To read the full Interloop Sustainability Report, please click here.

Have your say. Tweet and follow us @WTiNcomment