Textiles/Fashion

Worn Again Technologies, a UK-based company, is dedicated to revolutionizing textile recycling by creating a circular economy for fabrics. Their innovative process enables textiles to be continuously recycled into new products. Worn again has developed a process that separates, decontaminates, and recaptures raw materials from mixed fibers, such as polyester and cotton, and turns them into virgin-like materials. Using a closed-loop chemical recycling process, Worn Again maximizes material recovery while enhancing environmental sustainability. 

EcoaTEX is advancing sustainability in the textile industry with its eco-friendly approach to textile coatings, focusing on transforming natural, renewable resources into sustainable fibers, dyes, and leather alternatives. Their innovative technologies—Eco-finishing, Eco-fiber, and Bio-based Alternative Leather—utilize green chemistry and nanotechnology to reduce environmental impact.

Beyond Surface Technologies (BTS), a Swiss supplier of bio-based textile chemicals, is committed to replacing petroleum-based materials in textiles with sustainable alternatives like plant seeds, natural waxes, and microalgae. BTS has developed miDori® bioWick, the first microalgae-based wicking finish for fabrics. This innovative finish achieves 100% biobased status and enhances moisture management by pulling sweat away from the body, promoting rapid evaporation, and providing advanced cooling.

Amphitex™ is a PFAs-free alternative to traditional waterproof and breathable textiles. Developed by Amphico, a leader in integrating research, engineering, and design to advance innovation and circularity, Amphitex™ is crafted for outdoor use with a unique, coating-free Amphidry™ Yarn. This yarn is essentially superhydrophobic and does not require additional water-repellent chemical coatings. Free from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), Amphitex™ achieves high performance in both waterproofing and breathability, matching the standards of industry leaders.

Keel Labs is a sustainable materials company that develops innovative materials derived from ocean resources. The main product, Kelsun™ fiber, uses seaweed due to its versatility, resilience, and ecological benefits. The production process involves extracting alginate, a biopolymer from seaweed, and combining it with proprietary additives and water to form a solution known as dope. This solution undergoes wet spinning, where polymer chains link to form fine filaments, which are then extruded into an aqueous solution and stretched to align their internal structure.

Circular Systems is a material science company that transforms biowaste into valuable fiber, yarn, and textile fabrics. Texloop™ is a technology that recycles pre-  and post-consumer textile waste into a high-quality recycled cotton fabric and upgrades it into high-quality RCOT™ recycled cotton fiber.

PILI is a biotech company that produces dyes and pigments using microorganisms for applications in textiles, inks, polymers, paints, and coatings. The technology uses microbial enzymes, which are re-engineered to produce brilliant and effective dyes from renewable resources. Enzymatic synthesis allows microbes to create materials sustainably by saving energy and reducing waste without significant inputs of toxic reagents. Once enzymatic cascades are designed, large-scale production begins without toxic inputs or harmful byproducts.

Technology developed by Evrnu®, an advanced material innovation company, reshaping resource utilization and reducing the negative environmental impacts of the textile industry. Nucycl® is a fiber regenerated from cotton textile waste that provides a real alternative to high-impact raw materials like cotton and polyester. The technology converts textile waste materials into ‘new’ engineered fibers, which can be recycled repeatedly.

Hydrothermal process technology that separates cotton and polyester fibers from polycotton waste and returns them to the raw material stage. Circ’s process is divided into three steps. First, textile waste from various sources is collected, then sorted and mechanically resized. Second, a hydrothermal process using water, pressure, and responsible chemistry separates polyester from cotton fibers, transforming the polyester into a liquid polymer and allowing separation from the cotton residue.

Break down of discarded polyester into raw material for new plastic and new products developed by Protein Evolution. This technology aims to reduce polyester waste piling up in landfills and incinerators due to the complexity of the material. Protein Evolution is leading the way in transitioning the chemicals industry towards a low-carbon, circular economy by transforming plastic waste management production through its Biopure™ technology. Biopure™ process outputs are indistinguishable from the fossil-fuel-derived molecules used to produce polyester today.