British fashion brand Stella McCartney has partnered with Protein Evolution Inc (PEI), an American firm to help the chemicals industry transition to a low-carbon, circular economy, to trailblaze the future of sustainable fashion.
The two organizations will invest for fresh approaches of recycling nylon and polyester waste that can be utilized to make textiles.
Starting in 2023, PEI will start processing the unused fibers from the brand’s collections to produce fibers that are just as excellent as new.
Protein Evolution said, “Today we announced an R&D collaboration with StellaMcCartney to trailblaze the future of sustainable fashion.”
Regarding this Scott Stankey, co-founder and chief technology officer at PEI said, “Our proprietary biological recycling process has the power to enable circularity efforts across the textile industry. By partnering with Stella McCartney, we are able to test our platform in a real-world setting and collectively learn how to seamlessly integrate PEI’s technology into existing manufacturing processes.”
This collaboration will ultimately demonstrate for the first time how complex fabric types, such as nylon and polyester blends, can be fully re-used to make new plastic material in a low-energy, cost-effective way, added Stankey.
The horrific amount of fast fashion produced that then goes to landfill is truly shocking—both from the natural resources used to the sheer quantity wasted.
For this, need to protect the planet, circular and regenerative solutions offer an optimistic look at the future of fashion.
“Through our partnership with Protein Evolution, we hope to pioneer a new type of polyester from old materials. Establishing climate goals is one thing, taking meaningful steps toward a more sustainable future is what truly matters,” Stella McCartney added.
