Upcycling textiles into products that are ‘good-as-new’

A chemical process recovers raw materials from textile waste so they can be used in new items

Spotted: By now, many people are familiar with the sustainability issues in the textile industry, with an estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste created each year, most of which ends up in landfills or burned. To improve the circularity of the textile industry, startup Eeden has developed a chemical recycling technology that targets one of the industry’s biggest challenges: the effective recycling of cotton-PET blends.

The startup’s process for textile waste can transform used clothing into high-quality cellulose and polyester raw materials. This allows manufacturers to recover the raw resources from a range of textile waste streams. The process extracts the biopolymer cellulose from waste textiles containing cotton. Then, the cellulose is used in the production of high-quality fibres such as viscose or lyocell.

The company’s CMO Julian Hertrampf, points out the unique feature of Eeden’s technology, telling Springwise, “Usually only one fibre type can be recovered from cotton-PET blends. We have managed to treat cotton and PET as effectively as possible so both components can be spun into fibres that retain a like-new quality.”

In November 2023, Eeden secured over €500,000 in funding with the help of Coup, a fintech startup that facilitates access to R&D funds for German tech companies. Julian told Springwise that the company plans to close a series A funding round this year and start building a pilot plant in 2025.

A growing awareness of the wastefulness of the textile industry is leading to a host of innovations. Recent concepts that Springwise has spotted include turning seaweed into textile fibres and a process that recycles polycotton blends.

Written By: Lisa Magloff