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"Regenerative models are the key to the future of the textile industry.” Steffen Gerlach, our Founder and CEO, joined David Pinzauti & Sebastian Flock on the Regenerativ & Digital podcast to discuss how we're scaling our circular business model in the textile industry. Want to know how we’re preparing for Series A, winning awards, and running successful pilot projects? Or how our three-stage recycling process and digital innovations are shaping the future? Find the link to the full episode in the comments! #circularfashion #circulartextiles #textilerecycling

Are you studying in Münster and interested in working at eeden? Visit us at 'Startup Contacts' today at Münster Castle and chat about job opportunities! Venture Club Münster e.V.

Looking for a job during or after your studies? Then come by and meet us in person at Startup Contacts in our hometown of Münster! Julian Hertrampf will be there - feel free to write to him in advance and exchange ideas at the fair. You can find the link to the tickets in the comments. See you there! Venture Club Münster e.V.

At this year's Siemens #DigitalTransformationSummit in Munich, it was all about rethinking processes for more resilient and more competitive processes. We talked a lot about how challenges can become opportunities and the significant potential of digitalization and efficient data use for driving sustainability transformation. I enjoyed discussing these topics with Kerstin Heinrich KUKA, Pina Schlombs Siemens Digital Industries Software, Johannes Giloth GEA Group and Matthias Maier Siemens. Thanks for the invite Juergen Giegerich & Team!

Textile Abfälle in neue Produkte wandeln... Steffen Gerlach , Mitbegründer des Startups eeden, gibt einen Überblick über den umfassenden Entwicklungsprozess, den die Textilrecycling-Technik seines Unternehmens vom Labor bis zur wirtschaftlichen Skalierbarkeit und Marktreife durchlaufen muss. Im nächsten Step steht für das Unternehmen, das im Jahr 2019 gestartet ist, die Errichtung einer Demonstrationsanlage an, bevor schließlich die FOAK-Anlage (First of a kind) errichtet werden kann, die sich auf die Rückgewinnung von Baumwolle und Polyester konzentrieren wird, so Gerlach. #bvse #Alttextiltag #Alttextilien #Recycling #Kreislaufwirtschaft

You have the potential to reduce carbon emissions in the fashion industry by 20% - by acting as a conscious consumer.(1) Sometimes when discussing sustainability, the focus is on consumers to act. At other times, it seems like only companies can make a difference. But action from both is necessary for a circular economy. Our focus today is on what consumers can do. First, consumers can support and demand circular business models. This includes fashion rentals, re-commerce (i.e. secondhand), clothing swaps, and repair. Simple choices are also impactful, like using reusable shopping bags. This allows companies to cut back on their packaging and creates demand for recycled fibers, which are a major component of many reusable bags. Second, consumers can also support companies that engage in fair, more sustainable, and transparent practices. You can find these brands on @Good On You’s brand ratings(2). If your favorite brand has a poor rating, you can contact them and ask them to improve in specific areas. Brands want to know what their customers care about, so they are likely to listen. When possible, it’s best to purchase higher-quality items that will last longer. This can be expensive (though not always!(3)) and therefore not realistic for many people. In that case, check out the next suggestion. Third, consumers can care for their clothes in ways that will maximize their useful life, minimizing the need for replacement. Less frequent laundering is proven to extend the lifespan of cotton-based clothing, like jeans.(4) Washing half loads at below 30 degrees and choosing to air-dry clothes instead of using a tumble dryer are also beneficial. Over half of consumers’ potential to reduce fashion-related carbon emissions comes from reducing how often we wash and dry our clothes!(1) Finally, consumers choose how to discard clothes. Clothing put in the trash will be incinerated or landfilled. Many cities have separate collection systems for textiles. These systems can include municipal waste management, clothing collection containers hosted by charities or companies, in-store drop-off, etc. Clothes should be clean and dry when separated for collection. If you like diving deeper into sustainability and have concerns, you can research the organizations that collect clothes. Then consider the 10 R’s of the circular economy (see our posts from December). If the clothes are reused, whether close to home or abroad, that is more circular than breaking them down for recycling. Not all clothes can be reused (due to their quality or the demand for secondhand), so an option where clothes are sent for chemical upcycling into new fibers (like at eeden!) will be more circular than downgrading for other uses. And all of these options are more circular than landfilling or incineration! So how will you support a circular fashion economy? Let us know in the comments or tell us if we’ve missed any tips! #CircularFashion #CircularEconomy #SustainableConsumption

“We are using one of the known approaches but found a really innovative way to do it” – Discover how we are tackling the textile-to-textile recycling challenge in the latest Ecotextile News article by Simon Glover!   https://lnkd.in/eZwUDiVv #circularfashion #circulartextiles #textilerecycling

Are you participating in Earth Day today? If so, you are one of over a billion people who mark Earth Day, the largest secular observance in the world.(1) The first Earth Day was organized in the United States in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson, who sought to bring public awareness to the air and water pollution caused by industrial development. Earth Day’s early years led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in the USA and to the passing of several laws designed to protect the air, water, humans, animals, and other aspects of the natural environment. In 1990, Earth Day cleared the path for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit. It’s not difficult to find evidence that, despite all the good work that has been done since the first Earth Day, we still have a long way to go. And yet, it’s important to remember how far we’ve come, so we can fight off the discouragement that is too-often associated with environmental work. This year's Earth Day theme, "Planet vs. Plastic," directs our attention to the critical issue of global water management. Despite water being essential for all life forms, its availability is increasingly threatened by scarcity and pollution. But industries still heavily rely on these water resources, particularly in sectors like clothing manufacturing.(2) Textile processes, notably dyeing, are responsible for 20% of global water pollution.(3) Here on LinkedIn, we’ve spent the last few weeks talking about some of the developments in the fashion industry that will contribute to better protection of natural resources. Those developments are just part of what have encouraged us to keep working toward our own vision of circular textiles. Right now we’re working on scaling up production of our fiber-to-fiber recycling processes. What about you? What encourages you to keep fighting for the planet? And what are you working on that contributes to that fight? Let us know in the comments! #EarthDay2024 #EnvironmentalProtection

What comes to mind when you hear the word “efficiency”? Maybe you think of Henry Ford and how his assembly line revolutionized factory work.(1) At eeden, we are working everyday to prevent the waste and destruction of textile resources. But we also recognize that resource efficiency is not the whole solution. Another major piece of the puzzle is carbon reduction. To reach a circular economy, some fashion brands and textile manufacturers are working to reduce their carbon footprints. Here are some ways brands can do this: First, pinpoint where emissions are coming from. What energy does our company directly burn (Scope 1)? What energy does our company buy in order to operate (Scope 2)? What emissions come from our company’s global supply chain (Scope 3)? What emissions will be created through consumers' use, care and disposal of our company’s products? Commit to how many emissions our company will reduce in each of the above areas within the next 5 to 10 years. Figure out how to meet those emission targets. Where can fossil fuels be replaced by renewable energy? How can carbon-intensive materials be replaced by materials requiring fewer emissions? How can we design products to last longer? How can we eliminate overproduction? Where can buildings and machinery get energy-efficient upgrades? How can we lower emissions from product distribution? How can we minimize returns on consumer purchases? How could our company take responsibility for its products when consumers are finished with them? Begin to implement changes in Scope 1 and 2 as soon as possible. In consultation with Scope 3 supply chain partners, actively support suppliers and manufacturers to implement emission reductions in their places of work. This will likely require collaboration with other brands that share these same suppliers. Including Scope 3 is vitally important because 61% of carbon reduction could come from upstream operations.(2) Educate consumers on garment care that contributes to lower emissions. Provide options to consumers that allow them to extend the lifespan of their textile products. For example, provide repair services or host swap parties. When products are truly at the end of life, work with textile recyclers to have them fiber-to-fiber recycled. When creating new products, design them with carbon reduction, lifespan extension, and future recycling in mind. Then package them in lighter-weight recycled materials. Invest in projects that regenerate natural environments that have been impacted by production. Check out the link to Global Fashion Agenda’s Fashion on Climate report(2) in the comment section for more information.  #SustainableFashion #FashionIndustry #CarbonReduction

Becoming more circular can seem overwhelming, whether in your personal life or your business. But there are guidelines that can help, especially for fashion brands wanting to become more circular. Today, we want to suggest a few places to start when it comes to running a more circular business, then point you towards some of the best resources we’ve come across. Suggestions: • Talk with your suppliers at all levels of production. Find out what works for them, what sustainable solutions they already implemented, and what support they need. • Consider your materials. What could you replace with more circular materials, like recycled fibers? How could you simplify the composition of your products to facilitate recycling? • Take responsibility for the end-of-life of your products. What currently happens to them? Are they thrown away by consumers? Are they returned through take-back programs, only to be incinerated? Take steps to increase product lifespans and allow end-of-life products to become feedstocks for circular systems. Resources (find links in the comments): • WRAP created a Circular Business Models Guide for Fashion to help companies make a just transition from new clothing production to more circular business models while remaining profitable and serving their customers. • The Circular Design Guide is a collaboration between the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and IDEO. Check out their workshops and other resources. • When you’re ready to talk about the sustainable work you’re doing, but don’t want to participate in greenwashing, check out The Sustainable Fashion Communication Playbook.  • Knowing about upcoming legislation in the fashion industry can prepare you for business practices that will soon be regulated. For example, check out the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. • Check out recommendations from industry reports. For example, page 54 of McKinsey & Co.’s 2022 report, “Scaling textile recycling in Europe – turning waste into value”, gives recommendations and considerations for stakeholders in the textile industry. • The Jeans Redesign, a project by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation provides insights on real examples of brands who improved the circularity of their denim collections. These suggestions and resources will only get you started. As the people behind the brands that users love, you get to make the decisions that will change your company, the fashion industry, and the world for the better! If you have other suggestions or know of some great resources that we’ve missed, make sure to add them in the comments. #CircularFashion #FashionIndustry #SustainableTransformation