Nature of Fashion
Pilot Projects & Case Studies
The Nature of Fashion initiative is transforming textile waste management by learning from nature’s strategies of decomposition and regeneration. Through innovative pilot projects across three continents, we’re demonstrating how the fashion industry can shift from a linear “take-make-waste” model to a regenerative system that works with nature, not against it.
Our pilot projects in the Netherlands, Germany, and Ghana showcase different approaches to breaking down textile waste and building it back up into valuable, biocompatible materials—proving that waste can become the foundation for a circular textile economy.
About Nature of Fashion: Design for Transformation
The Nature of Fashion initiative fundamentally rethinks how we manage textile waste by learning from nature’s strategies. Recognizing that current systems largely overlook the potential of decomposition, this initiative seeks to transform the linear take-make-waste model into a break-down-to-build-up paradigm that aligns with the deeply cyclical processes of the natural world.
Key Insight: We take inspiration from nature’s “helpers”—bacteria, archaea, fungi, and algae—that have sustained material flows for millennia. When synthetic materials can’t be broken down by these decomposers, they become pollution. Our goal is to align fashion with these natural processes.
Image a fashion industry where every fiber is designed with its decomposition in mind, transforming waste into a resource and helping close the loop of production. The future of fashion is built to evolve, just like nature itself.
Our Vision:
The Nature of Fashion initiative offers a new perspective: what if we designed textiles with their eventual breakdown and reintegration into natural systems in mind? Inspired by nature’s processes, we aim to address these critical issues by integrating decomposition as a fundamental aspect of a more circular and regenerative system.
Three Pilot Projects,
One Mission
Our pilot projects demonstrate that the “bottom fraction” of mixed textile waste—materials destined for landfill or incineration—can be converted into valuable outputs that either reintegrate into Earth’s natural cycles or become food for another industry. Each project offers unique insights into regional circular infrastructure and biotechnological innovation.
Circle Economy – Netherlands
Transforming Textile Waste Through Data and Circular Systems
Based in Amsterdam, Circle Economy drives the shift from linear, wasteful textile systems to circular practices through research, data analysis, and capacity building. Their work in the Nature of Fashion initiative focuses on understanding textile waste volumes, analyzing value chain solutions, and assessing socioeconomic impacts to accelerate circularity in global textile value chains.
Circle Economy leads the Netherlands pilot, redefining how to manage low-value, mixed textile waste. The project explores how unsellable textiles typically destined for incineration can be transformed into regenerative outputs through integrated biological and thermochemical processes. The project demonstrates feasible recycling solutions while creating a regional ecosystem where recovered materials continuously circulate within the economy, bridging waste management, industrial innovation, and market application.
- Evidence-based research: Analyzing textile waste volumes and recycling potential across European supply chains
- Circularity Gap Report Textiles: Revealing how circular strategies can make the industry three times more circular while halving its environmental footprint
- Training and capacity building: Empowering brands and manufacturers to design out waste and enhance product durability
- Pre-competitive initiatives: Supporting organizations like the EU, UNIDO, and major fashion brands to launch measurable circular solutions
Circle Economy’s approach combines rigorous data analysis with practical implementation support, helping the industry understand the true scale of textile waste while providing actionable pathways toward circularity. Their work demonstrates how systemic change requires both understanding the problem and building the infrastructure to solve it. Learn more here.
Beneficial Design Institute – Germany
Biotechnology Meets Regional Circular Infrastructure
Operating in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region, the Beneficial Design Institute is pioneering biotechnological processes that transform low-value post-consumer textile waste into high-quality, biocompatible materials. In collaboration with Fraunhofer IAP, Fraunhofer IGB, and matterr GmbH, they’re developing regional circular infrastructure that diverts textile waste from incineration.
BDI’s case study will be released in February 2026.
- 1. Bacterial Fermentation for PHB Production: Converting polyester-containing textile waste (fast fashion, workwear, industrial cleaning rags) into polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)—a biodegradable bioplastic. This groundbreaking process uses polyester hydrolysis and bacterial fermentation to transform previously worthless waste into a thermoplastically processable material suitable for medicine, agriculture, and packaging applications.
- 2. Microalgae Cultivation for Beta-Glucan: Utilizing CO2-rich exhaust gas from textile gasification to cultivate microalgae that produce beta-glucan, opening new possibilities for agricultural and bio-based applications. This approach demonstrates how waste streams can be cascaded through multiple transformation processes.
- Bacterial Fermentation for PHB Production: Converting polyester-containing textile waste (fast fashion, workwear, industrial cleaning rags) into polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)—a biodegradable bioplastic. This groundbreaking process uses polyester hydrolysis and bacterial fermentation to transform previously worthless waste into a thermoplastically processable material suitable for medicine, agriculture, and packaging applications.
- Microalgae Cultivation for Beta-Glucan: Utilizing CO2-rich exhaust gas from textile gasification to cultivate microalgae that produce beta-glucan, opening new possibilities for agricultural and bio-based applications. This approach demonstrates how waste streams can be cascaded through multiple transformation processes.
The Beneficial Design Institute has successfully demonstrated that the lowest category of textile waste can be converted into valuable biocompatible materials through nature-inspired biotechnology. Their work proves the technical feasibility of regional circular systems and shows how waste can become a resource for entirely new industries. Learn more here.
The Or Foundation – Ghana
Environmental Justice at the Frontline of Fashion Waste
Based in Accra, Ghana, The Or Foundation works at the critical intersection of environmental justice, circular economy, and fashion accountability. Operating in Kantamanto—West Africa’s largest secondhand clothing market—they confront the reality that 15 million secondhand garments arrive each week, with an estimated 40% becoming immediate waste due to poor quality.
The Or Foundation case study will be released in March 2026.
The Or Foundation addresses the environmental and social impacts of global fashion waste while supporting the livelihoods of Kantamanto market traders. They recognize that waste management is not just an environmental issue but a matter of justice—the Global South should not bear the burden of disposing of the Global North’s overconsumption.
- Research and advocacy: Documenting the flow of textile waste to Ghana and advocating for Extended Producer Responsibility
- Community support: Providing resources and infrastructure for Kantamanto traders while protecting their economic interests
- Circular solutions: Exploring local decomposition and transformation technologies that could create value from textile waste while reducing environmental pollution
- Global accountability: Challenging the fashion industry to take responsibility for the full lifecycle of their products, not just production and sales
The Or Foundation brings critical visibility to the global implications of fashion waste. Their work in the Nature of Fashion initiative ensures that circular solutions consider not just environmental outcomes but also social justice, economic equity, and the rights of communities who currently manage the world’s discarded clothing. They remind us that “the best resistance is an alternative”—and alternatives must be equitable. Learn more here.
Our partners
Through collaborative efforts with our partners, we are collectively striving to transform the fashion industry by demonstrating the potential of decomposition and building a regenerative, nature positive future.
Learn more
Delve deeper into the foundational research and discoveries that paved the way for Phase 2 by exploring the learnings and outcomes of our successful first phase, demonstrating the initial proof of concept for textile waste transformation
phase 1
Lessons Learned
Nature builds better.
With just a few core materials and incredibly intelligent structures, nature creates systems that constantly regenerate — breaking down and building up again. The materials we humans create don’t yet measure up.
To move from the system we have today to one that’s as beneficial as nature’s, we need to rethink how we design and the lifecycle of our materials.
Here’s what we’ve learned so far:
Waste is Expensive
Approximately 80% of the over 100 billion garments produced each year end up in incineration or landfill, presenting a significant financial burden to collectors, sorters, and municipalities worldwide, while also driving greenhouse gas emissions and causing severe environmental and human health impacts. However, this dynamic is beginning to change as governments implement more greenhouse gas and Extended Producer Responsibility legislation, revealing the true cost of waste and making decomposition pathways a more viable alternative.
Not everything can be recycled
Effective, practical, and scaled recycling solutions are currently unavailable for many material streams, with fiber-to-fiber recycling processes handling less than 1% of textile waste today. Even with expected advancements, by 2030, only 18-26% of textile waste may be processed, leaving the most toxic and difficult materials, like acrylic which comprises nearly 20% of waste streams, without a recycling solution.
Material loops leak
Our man-made material loops inevitably leak, necessitating a shift in how we handle textiles as a pioneering example of materials metabolism. The future of the circular economy hinges on creating materials that are designed to serve as food for nature’s decomposers, ensuring that when these materials end their life cycle, they seamlessly feed new manufacturing cycles or safely integrate into the environment without accumulation.
Complexity is key
Just as nature relies on a diverse community of decomposers working collectively in parallel or sequentially to break down materials, so too will industry need to create a sequence of technologies to maximize the value of waste materials. This complexity, mirroring the “predator-prey” relationships found in natural ecosystems, enhances the system’s resilience to disturbances, embodying dynamic natural cycles. Natural cycles are never completely closed loops.
Nature balances durability with biodegradability
While today’s brands champion durability in their sustainability strategies, nature excels by creating materials that are not only durable and functional but also inherently biodegradable. This balance is achieved by starting with digestible components, which are then layered and stabilized to perform without toxicity, fundamentally differing from man-made polymers that fail to degrade and are highly polluting.
Operating within our limits
Materials and products that are unfamiliar to nature predominate the textile industry. The scope and scale of this industry threatens to overwhelm planetary boundaries. Taking a biomimetic frame to the issues leads to possible end-of-life solutions starting with making materials and products that are familiar (aka compatible) with natural systems. Fundamental to this are materials that can biodegrade and are of low toxicity.
Contact us
For those eager to collaborate or learn more about our ongoing efforts, including pilot projects and partnership opportunities, please get in touch with our team to discuss how you can be part of building a regenerative future for fashion