New Startup To Revolutionise Fashion Recycling

The fashion industry might be fabulous, but it’s also filthy — and not just in terms of gossip. Clocking in at 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it’s out-polluting planes and cargo ships combined. That new dress? It might be contributing to a planetary crisis. But a new wave of clean-tech fashion startups is on a mission to detox your wardrobe, and they’re bringing serious science to the runway.

Two trailblazing companies, Circ and EverDye, just snagged BloombergNEF Pioneers awards for tackling two of fashion’s biggest environmental offenders: fabric waste and dye pollution.

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Let’s start with Circ, a Virginia-based startup that’s turned recycling blended fabrics — like the cotton-polyester tees most of us live in — from a pipe dream into a chemical reality. Most machines can’t separate the fibers because, to them, it all looks like one big textile smoothie. “It’s so hard to mechanically separate them. You can’t comb it apart,” explains textile science professor Sonja Salmon.

Circ’s secret sauce? A pressure-based chemical process using water to break down the polyester into its base components (called monomers) and isolate the cotton. Both materials can then be reused — and not just for napkins or stuffing. “Our materials are better than virgin, from a greenhouse impact,” says Circ president Peter Majeranowski. Patagonia, Zara-parent Inditex, and Zalando have already invested, but convincing brands to lock in long-term contracts remains a challenge. “It’s a muscle that brands aren’t used to,” Majeranowski adds.

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Meanwhile, across the pond, Paris-based EverDye is giving fabric dyeing a long-overdue glow-up. Traditional dyeing guzzles energy by cranking up heat to help colour stick to fabric — a chemically stubborn match thanks to negative charges on both sides. But EverDye flips the script. The team attaches natural pigment to a positively charged biopolymer nanoparticle, which binds easily to fabric without the need for heat or extra chemicals. “It takes time to adapt the formulas,” says operations lead Victor Durand — but they’re already producing earthy tones and testing brighter hues like red and blue.

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EverDye has pilot runs with Lacoste and Petit Bateau and is eyeing a major series A funding round. “Our goal is to be a regular provider of dyes in the supply chain,” Durand says.

These two are part of a broader movement shaking up the status quo. From algae-based yarns to lab-grown cotton, startups are proving that the future of fashion doesn’t have to come at the planet’s expense. Stylish and sustainable? Now that’s hot.