Global fiber production reached 124 million tons in 2023 and is expected to rise to 160 million tons by 2030. At the same time, the industry generates 92 million tons of textile waste every year — yet less than 1% is recycled back into new textile fibers.

The root challenge? Most textile waste consists of blended materials — like polyester/cotton or polyester/elastane — treated with dyes, PFAS, heavy metals. These are materials current recycling technologies can’t process effectively.

And the pressure is mounting:

• From 2025, EU mandates separate textile waste collection and bans incineration and landfill.

• By 2027, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes will make brands financially responsible for their waste.

• Corporate Social Responsitbilty Directive (CSRD) & Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) require full transparency and circular design.

• Until now, brands have used recycled polyester fibres, made from food-grade plastics - 98% af all availble “rPET”. However, this will not suffice to meet future regulation.

This creates a bottleneck — but also a chance to lead.

We offer a scalable solution that transforms even the complex, contaminated textiles into clean raw materials — turning regulatory pressure into opportunity, and textile waste into recurring value.

At Textile Change, we don’t shy away from complex blends — we unblend them.

Our end products are recovered cellulose pulp - mainly from cotton and other cellulosic fibers - and polyester polymer granules.

Our patented chemical recycling process is modular and built to handle real-world textile waste — the kind that’s mixed, dyed, stretched, coated, and chemically complicated.

We target and remove the key contaminants that block circularity:

PFAS
“Forever chemicals” used for water/stain resistance — now regulated due to persistence and bioaccumulation. We break and capture them safely.

Elastane & Dyes
Two of the most common barriers to high-quality recycling. We are removing both in a single, precise process — protecting downstream material quality without relying on upstream color-sorting.

Metals
Iron, Aluminum, Calcium, Magnesium and a range of heavy metals are all common in textiles. We remove them to ensure high-quality pulp and process stability.

Molecular Separation
Not monomer recycling. Not downcycling. Polymer-level precision.

Unlike most other textile-to-textile recycling methods we don’t rely on depolymerization. We dissolve polyester, extract it from the textile matrix, and preserve its polymer chain, which means:

✅ Low energy use (no re-polymerization, no need for highly pressurized vessels)
✅ High material quality. Suitable for premium fiberspinning.

Our outputs are high-performance raw materials ready to replace fossil and virgin fiber inputs:

Polyester becomes a clean polymer granule ready for spinning of polyester fibers.

Cotton and other celluloic fibers becomes a clean cellulose pulp, ready to spin new cellulose fibers.

Our process removes persistent and harmful substances such as PFAS, dyes, heavy metals, and finishing chemicals from textile waste — preventing them from entering landfills, water systems, and ecosystems. This detoxification step is essential to breaking the cycle of pollution and enabling safe, circular material flows.

We use recyclable, non-toxic solvents selected with human and environmental safety in mind. Our solvent system is free from Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) under REACH and chosen for low hazard classification.

All solvents and water streams are recirculated and treated, with targeted removal of contaminants like PFAS and heavy metals — demonstrated at both laboratory and pilot scale.

The problematic compounds removed from the textiles are responsibly handled.

Others avoid it. We process it — pushing the boundaries of circularity.

1. Collection
   As mandated by the EU, textile waste is collected as a seperate fraction. This is both household and industrial waste.

2. Sorting
   Sorting facilities make sure that the textiles are sorted accorting to EU taxonomy. They provide input for our process.

3. Textile Change: Chemical Separation (Preprocessing)
   We receive mixed and contaminated textiles and apply the neccesary of our patented, modular process to remove elastane, dyes, PFAS, metals, and other blockers. This enables true textile-to-textile recycling — even from waste that was previously unrecyclable.

4. Textile Change: Raw Material Recovery
   We extract and purify the core textile polymers: Cellulose and polyester. These outputs are delivered as pulp and granules to fiber producers, replacing virgin raw materials with circular alternatives.

5. Fiber Production
   Our raw materials are used by manufacturers to produce new lyocell, viscose and polyester fibers — with no compromise in quality.

6. Fabric, Garment & Use
   The regenerated fibers enter existing yarn spinning and fabric production lines, becoming consumer products.

7. Re-collection
   With Extended Producer Responsibility and improved reverse logistics, waste textiles can be collected, sorted, and fed back into the loop — creating recurring value from textile waste.

Our technology supports the EU’s shift toward a circular, accountable, and safe textile system. We align with key regulatory frameworks: EPR, CSRD, ESPR.

Too often, recycling shortcuts create new problems: Toxic byproducts, unsafe chemicals used, or materials so degraded they offer little real-world value.

We’re here to do it differently.

As biotech engineers, we trained to think in systems, molecules, and life cycles — that mindset drives everything we build. Our process separates polyester and cellulose without breaking down the polymers, preserving their quality, reducing energy use, and avoiding unnecessary chemical reactions.

We pledge to build solutions that solve today’s challenges — without creating tomorrow’s.

SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation
Removes PFAS, dyes, and heavy metals from textile waste to prevent toxic discharge into water systems.

SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Develops responsible chemical recycling technology designed for future regulation, traceability, and scalability.

SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production
Enables high-yield fiber recovery from textile waste, aligned with circular economy goals and safe chemical use.

SDG 13 – Climate Action
Massive CO₂ savings compared to virgin fiber production, supporting climate goals.

SDG 15 – Life on Land
Prevents long-term contamination from textile waste in landfills by removing hazardous substances before recycling.