It’s almost happening. We can finally wear clothes made of mixed materials without feeling guilty! All thanks to Worn Again‘s new innovation.

An example of Worn Again’s upcycled footwear.

Worn Again is a company that continuously seeks for bigger and better solutions to tackle the challenge of textile waste. They introduced their footwear made of recycled materials in 2005 and they haven’t stopped there. Worn Again has used various waste fabrics into jackets, wallets, and handbags.

Their goal states on their website that they aim to eradicate textile waste. With this in mind, they’ve moved from upcycling to focusing on creating a closed-loop textile recycling technology, specifically on how to separate blended fibre garments, as well as separating dyes and contaminants from polyester and cellulose.

Bringing this back to class, we learnt about the “cradle-to-cradle” concept through Jacquelyn Ottman’s book, The New Rules of Green Marketing. What Worn Again is doing now is moving materials that would have gone from “cradle-to-grave” to “cradle-to-cradle”.

According to Sustainable Brand’s article, Worn Again’s textile-to-textile chemical recycling technology is able to separate and extract polyester and cotton from old or end-of-use clothing and textiles. I remember from one of our Sustainability Marketing lectures that it was difficult to get both comfort and sustainability because of how difficult it was to extract the different materials that make up an clothing item. But now, it’s here! Worn Again is currently entering their next phase of development by monitoring the testing. They’ve partnered with H&M and Kering’s PUMA for their testing and they aim to demonstrate that the technology is commercially viable. Soon, we will be able to wear stretchy and soft clothing without feeling like we are destroying Mother Earth.

What are your thoughts on Worn Again’s new technology?

References:

Ottman, J. (2011). The New Rules of Green Marketing. EBL. Retrieved from http://reader.eblib.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/(S(ludd2vmht1dmxq2c3kjgv04x))/Reader.aspx?p=646579&o=1267&u=VVzsPZ%2bA4bR%2fcfgerZD6BQ%3d%3d&t=1428044981&h=2DB745189570518169737C18C15C4820CA6B4BF0&s=34426549&ut=4226&pg=1&r=img&c=-1&pat=n&cms=-1&sd=2#

Sustainable Brands. (April 2, 2015). Worn Again Joins Forces with H&M, Kering to Create Circular Resource Model for Textiles. Sustainable Brands. Retrieved from http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/startups/sustainable_brands/worn_again_joins_forces_hm_kering_create_circular_resourc