Lunch Seminar: Clothes; Reborn
Time: Thu 2020-10-08 12.00 - 13.00
Location: KTH Entré
Mikael Lindström, Professor KTH
KTH Research into the Spinoff Company Renewcell
Professor Mikael Lindström, Head of the School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, will talk about how research results from KTH evolved into the spinoff company Renewcell, with the potential of transforming the fashion industry at an industrial level.
When KTH researchers Mikael Lindström, Gunnar Henriksson och Christofer Lindgren discovered a new method of decomposing cellulose in cotton and viscose. As work progressed, they realized that this could be the key to recycling textiles on a massive scale and make fashion sustainable.
Patenting their findings at an early stage enabled the team to further commercialize their idea. In 2016, the first demo Renewcell plant opened, transforming discarded textiles into fiber that can be spun into new garments.
During the talk you will hear about Renewcell’s journey from KTH lab to functional plant, now aiming to scale up to recycle enough fabric to produce 200 million t-shirts annually. Professor Mikael Lindström will share lessons learnt from the process.
Tahani Kaldéus, Head of R&D and Innovation Renewcell AB
Renewcell – we make fashion sustainable
The global textile business is huge, fast growing and wasteful. Less than one percent of all textile are recycled back to textiles. However, there is a way to put fashion first without putting the environment second. Renewcell address this with a new recycling technology that dissolves used cotton and other natural fibers into a new, biodegradable raw material, Circulose® pulp. This pulp is then sold to fiber companies that produce viscose textile fiber from which you can spin yarn, weave fabric and make garment. The way fashion is produced and consumed can finally be transformed into a never-ending loop. People around the world will are now able to buy recycled garments made with Circulose®!
Clara Alderin, Project Manager H&M Foundation
Global Change Award – an innovation challenge aiming to make fashion circular.
The Global Change Award is one of the world’s leading challenges for early stage innovations, and the largest of its kind in the fashion industry. Global Change Award is initiated by the non-profit foundation H&M Foundation and in partnership with Accenture and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, they support five winners every year in taking their ideas to the next level, with guidance on how to scale up quickly and maximize their impact on the industry.
Livestream the event here .
After the seminar you can find a recorded version .