Walmart backs scalable textile-to-textile recycling engine in US and Europe

bundle of t shirts in a pile

Walmart backs scalable textile-to-textile recycling engine in US and Europe

The Walmart Foundation has granted the sustainable fashion and textiles engine, Accelerating Circularity a new $1.5 million fund to fuel the launch of a textile-to-textile recycling platform scalable across the US and Europe.

Accelerating Circularity is on a mission to catalyse new circular supply chains and business models to turn used textiles into mainstream raw materials. Believing that used textiles are ‘too good to waste’, the scheme aims to reduce the environmental impact of the millions of tonnes of waste generated by the textiles industry.

This new injection will help Accelerating Circularity continue it work to prove the scalability of its textile-to-textile recycling operations. It follows a grant issued by the Walmart Foundation back in 2021 that enabled the engine to pilot trials at scalable levels and demonstrate textile-to-textile recycling in the US and Europe.

The new grant of $1.5 million has gone towards funding the launch of Accelerating Circularity’s next phase of work, Building Circular Systems. This encompasses three areas of business: Tool Development; Market Building (through the commercialisation of circular textile-to-textile recycling); and Educating and Engaging brands and retailers on responsible pathways for the disposal of used textiles.

“We are fortunate to have the support of the Walmart Foundation to do this next level of work and move closer to realising our vision of a world in which textiles are no longer wasted,” said Karla Magruder, founder and president of Accelerating Circularity. “We aim to broaden our engagement as we continue to build the business case for circularity and invite new industry collaborators to join us in the endeavour.”

Accelerating Circularity’s body of work, Building Circular Systems aims to now significantly increase volumes of materials, develop new tools, and expand circular system education based on the learnings from its previous work. The next phase will include bringing in more collaborations with additional partners and a wider geographic scope.

“This milestone marks a major step forward in ACP’s efforts to build commercial textile-to-textile systems, provide industry tools and deliver on education and knowledge allowing companies to transfer learnings to their sourcing strategies,” added Karla.

“We are driving positive change in the supply chain through collaboration and leading the way toward our vision of a world where textiles are no longer wasted.”

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