Recycling tech ventures could solve fashion’s waste problem
New recycling technologies are springing up that may offer a solution to the fashion sector’s waste endemic.
“It’s undisputed the fashion industry has a problem with waste. While commitments by brands and retailers to divert waste from landfills and rolling out in-store ‘take back’ schemes and collection initiatives mark steps in the right direction, it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the true scale of the problem,” says Beth Wright, Apparel Correspondent at GlobalData.
“Industry players need tried and tested solutions they can implement into their supply chains to tackle textile waste and utilise more materials from environmentally and socially responsible sources in the production of new apparel.”
A recent example comes from US-based Tyton BioSciences, whose technology recycles raw materials, including cotton pulp and polyester, recovered from discarded clothing and fashion manufacturing waste to create new fabrics. The company recently secured $8 million in a Series A funding round led by Tin Shed Ventures, the investment arm of outdoor apparel brand Patagonia.
Another initiative between Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) and Verdex Technologies has developed a patented spinning nozzle technology that can produce nanofibres from used PET carpet and bottles that can then be used to create performance apparel products.
In Hong Kong, yarn spinner Novetex Textiles has worked with the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) to upcycle textile waste into yarns that can be reused to make garments. The Billie system is a mechanical recycling process that does not consume water, emit wastewater, or produce chemical waste.
Oil giant BP, meanwhile, has invested $25 million in a pilot plant to test new technology that could enable polyester waste to be infinitely recycled into virgin-quality feedstocks for products such as clothing.
Wright concludes: “Simply collecting post-consumer apparel is not sufficient - the industry needs established technologies that can help deliver both economically and socially.”