German startup Eeden has received further funding to solve the global used textiles problem and accelerate the scaling of its technology. The company has developed an innovative process for the environmentally-friendly recycling of clothing and other textile products. According to Eeden, every second, a truckload of used textiles is burned or landfilled – resulting in an annual material loss of over EUR80bn. At the same time, millions and millions of tonnes of new resources are cultivated annually for fiber production, creating a gigantic ecological footprint.
The Eeden project began with this vision, and the EU Textile Strategy laid an important foundation stone for its realization. The strategy aims to ensure that by 2030 textiles in the EU market will consist largely of recycled fibers.
Eeden’s process extracts the biopolymer cellulose (cotton consists of > 90% cellulose) from waste textiles containing cotton. This is then used for producing high-quality fibers such as viscose or lyocell. The startup benefits greatly from its location in Germany, and this is because there is already an existing textile collection infrastructure here, and thus, large quantities of old textiles are suitable for Eeden’s upcycling process.
Andrea Muth, investment manager at Born2Grow, a Heilbronn-based and internationally active seed fund, said, “We see Eeden’s technology as a great opportunity for the industry and major fashion brands to become independent of scarce natural resources while solving the global used textile problem and already meeting future EU directives. Today we see great potential beyond the demand of the fashion industry.”
