As they say, “One man’s waste is another’s treasure” and something I have learnt in my career is that many industries and businesses overlook the value of their waste output.
When it comes to sustainability, though, waste products have much broader implications than financial and that is why I find Re-Fresh Global’s work so interesting.
The fashion industry is thwarted with sustainability implications across the board, covering impacts on people, communities, biodiversity and the environment.
As such, technologies that seek to address to reduce the impact of fashion on these is very much welcome.
Viktoria Kanar
Co-Founder, Re-Fresh Global
To find out more about Re-Fresh Global and how they are helping address UN SDG 13, we speak with their Co-Founder, Viktoria Kanar
About the company in this micro-feature:
Re-Fresh Global
Germany, Israel, USA
undisclosed
Currently seeking funding
: Investor(s)What problem are you addressing at Re-Fresh Global?
The fashion and textile industry is a major contributor to global carbon emissions, making it a significant contributor to climate change. It is estimated that by 2050, the industry will be responsible for 25% of global CO2 emissions.
The fast fashion industry, which is characterized by the rapid production and disposal of cheap, energy-intensive clothing, is particularly problematic due to its high level of waste and carbon emissions.
Synthetic fabrics, such as polyester, which are made from petroleum and require significant energy to produce, are a major contributor to the industry’s carbon footprint. Natural fibers, such as cotton, can also have a significant impact if grown using irrigation and fertilizers that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
Re-Fresh.global is a European/American/Israeli eco-business that’s offering both awareness activities and consulting in the field of sustainable fashion innovation, but also developed a groundbreaking technology to turn textile waste into new materials and products, some of which are as surprising as a real perfume fragrance made from textile waste, and materials for the automotive industry, fashion, art and pretty much every manufacturing area of expertise.
How are you approaching this challenge?
Re-Fresh.global has developed a technology that converts almost any type of textile waste into three groups of raw materials: ethanol, nanocellulose, and sanitized textile pulp.
These raw materials can be used in the fashion industry or in other industries.
The company is also working on automation in every step of the textile management process in order to replace manual work with automated tech solutions and create mass production lines for the new raw materials.
Re-Fresh.global’s solution is a Microfactory system that converts large volumes of low-value textile waste into three groups of high-value raw materials: bio-ethanol, nanocellulose, and sanitized multifunctional textile pulp for a wide range of industrial use.
What successes have you had so far?
Re-Fresh.global’s services are currently being utilized by cities, fashion designers, and other manufacturers, as well as companies that use the recycled raw materials in their new products (such as insulation, infrastructure, and even new fashion products).
The microfactories have a double impact as they allow local producers to treat and repurpose their waste locally, reducing actual waste, transportation implications, and contributing to the circular economy. These microfactories also empower local, more sustainable processes. The success of Re-Fresh.global’s services can be seen in their widespread use and the positive impact they have on the environment and local economies.
How are you helping address the UN SDGs?
SDGs being addressed by Re-Fresh Global: 13Re-Fresh.global is a company that aims to address the problem of growing textile waste, which has significant environmental impacts. By developing technology to turn textile waste into new materials and products, the company is contributing to the goal of SDG 13, which is to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
By reducing the amount of textile waste that ends up in landfills or is incinerated, the company is also helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change. In addition, by promoting awareness and consulting in the field of sustainable fashion innovation, the company is helping to raise education and awareness about the importance of taking action on climate change, which is also a target of SDG 13. Finally, by developing new solutions to handle textile waste, the company is helping to strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of communities to climate-related hazards and natural disasters, as called for in the goals of SDG 13.
