Summary

Evrnu tackles the problem of waste in the clothing industry by generating a new class of fibers from post-consumer textile waste. The company has developed a modular chemical and engineering platform (“Nucycl”) that separates most textile waste into fibers that can directly replace 90% of the those in the current textile market, including cotton, man-made cellulosic fibers, nylon and polyester. (Source) The technology involves processing the textile waste into building blocks. These are then separated, purified, and resynthesized into cellulose, polyester, and polyurethane until they are ready for respinning. The result is a recyclable lyocell material made through the NuCycl process that is a high-performance material made entirely from cotton textile waste. The product is durable and biodegradable. Right now, the NuCycl process works for cotton, but the company hopes to produce fibers from other materials in the future.

Story

The company was co-founded by Stacy Flynn and Christo Stanev. The company’s mission was defined after Flynn, a textile developer who had worked for some big clothing brands, spent a month visiting textile subcontractors in China, where toxic wastewater from mills was having a devastating and visible effect on local communities. The impact of what she saw stayed with her and she founded Evrnu along with Stanev who also had a background in textile chemistry.

Pic Credit: Time (right) and WWD (top)