LAUNCH Textiles

Kalle Määtä: Pure Waste

Pure Waste

Pure Waste creates 100% recycled textiles through upcycling pre-consumer textile waste

“Where others see waste, we see treasures.” Kalle Määttä, Partner and CEO of Pure Waste Textiles

THE PROBLEM

Today between 10-15% of the cotton fibers going into the manufacturing process end up as waste products from different stages of the manufacturing (cuts, selvage waste, etc.).

The manufacturers in the mainstream fashion industry in most cases discard these leftovers en route to production. These production leftovers are sometimes down-cycled and churned into fillings and insulations, but are often just discarded and sent to landfills or incinerated.

By turning textile waste back into premium quality recycled textiles, it is possible to reduce the amount of new cotton needed and to reduce the amount of waste ending up in landfills.

THE INNOVATION

In short: Pure Waste produces 100% recycled textiles. This is done by upcycling pre-consumer textile waste, focusing on cotton.  The difference between traditional recycling and upcycling is that in upcycling the value of the material does not decrease.

All the waste collected by Pure Waste is carefully sorted according to quality and color. Then the waste mass is tenderly cut into pieces and softly opened back into fibers without damaging the fiber length.

Products made of Pure Waste textiles are environmentally more sustainable than many other ecological fabrics, as Pure Waste is made entirely out of discarded textile waste.

By turning textile waste back into premium quality 100% recycled textiles Pure Waste can reduce the amount of new cultivated cotton, which also leads to global water savings.

THE VISION

The goal is to make the industry more sustainable by producing through recycling, thereby making ecological textile products possible without making any compromises in terms of quality.