The fashion and textile industry is one of the largest contributors to global waste, with significant environmental impacts from production, consumption and disposal of clothing. UKFT members and key partners are developing innovative solutions to help the UK accelerate towards a circular fashion and textile ecosystem.

To mark Earth Day 2025, we have rounded up a list of innovative processes, products and technologies, all with the goal of combating textile waste and promoting circular growth in the UK.

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PROCESSES

UKFT member Calyx Cotton presents an alternative to conventional field-grown cotton, focusing on reducing water consumption and reliance on chemical inputs, ensuring the production is circular and traceable, whilst maintaining high-quality cotton.

Leading the textiles industry to a PFAS-free (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) outdoor-wear industry, UKFT member Amphico is a combination of scientists and designers, passionate about making the future a better place, both in creating materials that have a lower impact on the planet and in the improved performance of the products it facilitates.

Using AI-designed enzymes, Epoch Biodesign biorecycling platform unlocks circularity for the toughest to recycle materials. The platform enables infinite recycling for mixed plastics and textiles at low temperatures, producing sustainable outputs for use in apparel, automotive, packaging and more.

Colorifix is a biotechnology company that has developed the first entirely biological process to product, deposit and fix pigments onto textiles. Inspired by the way colours are produced in nature and engineered through synthetic biology, its process entirely cuts out the use of harsh chemicals and leads to huge reductions in water and energy consumption.

Working with textile-based businesses ranging from fashion and interior to the automotive industry, UKFT member Post Carbon Lab turns carbon emissions into colours, pigments, dyes and coatings with the help of microbes for industrials applications. By offering them more sustainable microbial alternatives to traditional colouration, dyeing, printing and wet-processing technology and formulation, Post Carbon Lab aim to support businesses meet their sustainability goals.

PRODUCTS

Based in the UK, Gooddrop was founded to provide the retail sector with a manageable solution to tackling sustainability issues in cotton farming. Working with its retail partner University of Nottingham, Gooddrop develop innovative approaches and technology to growing cotton, which will allow the industry to mitigate against the problems of growing cotton.

On a mission to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion sector, Solena Materials develop next generation synthetic fibres, designing new proteins to develop fibres that are high performance, non-oil derived and biodegradable.

UKFT member Courtney & Co is reviving button-making in the UK using traditional techniques and new technology, natural and environmentally friendly materials and heritage patterns in a way that is ecological, ethical and fully sustainable.

TECHNOLOGIES

Through transforming production for fashion and furniture enterprises, MannyAI is addressing overproduction through AI Production Flow Planner for factories and a dynamic Sourcing Marketplace for brands.

Eslando is a marketplace for recyclable waste textiles, empowering users to shape the future of textile recycling. Eslando provides solutions to connect the entire textile recycling ecosystem, from waste collectors to recyclers, facilitating efficient and transparent transactions.

Matoha tackle pollution and enable circular economy through its fast and affordable material identification devices that allow sorting at any moment. The devices allow you to sort waste efficiently and allows you to add traceability and data streams to sorting.