Samsara Eco partners with Lululemon to create recycled textiles

Australian envirotech startup Samsara Eco is collaborating with global activewear brand Lululemon to wage war against waste in the fashion industry by creating recycled textiles.

This multi-year collaboration will scale circularity through textile-to-textile recycling, and see Samsara Eco create the world’s first infinitely recycled nylon 6,6 and polyester.

Samsara Eco and Lululemon will create new recycled nylon and polyester made from apparel waste, reusing lower-impact alternatives to important materials in the performance apparel industry.

This represents Lululemon’s first-ever minority investment in a recycling company and Samsara Eco’s first partnership within the apparel industry.

This partnership is a key milestone for Samsara Eco’s roadmap to recycle 1.5 million tonnes of plastic annually by 2030.

Paul Riley, CEO and Founder of Samsara Eco said, “We’re proud that this partnership is disrupting the apparel industry. The ability to infinitely recycle textiles, including nylon, is an essential solution to tackle the enormous challenge of textile waste in the apparel industry.

“Together with Lululemon, Samara Eco is creating enzymatically recycled nylon and accelerating textile-to-textile recycling toward truly circular apparel. This is a massive milestone as Samsara Eco achieves an environmentally friendly ability to recycle blended textiles including nylon and polyester.”

Yogendra Dandapure, VP raw materials innovation at Lululemon said, “Nylon remains our biggest opportunity to achieve our 2030 sustainable product goals. This partnership demonstrates what’s possible through collective innovation to solve unmet needs.

“Through Samsara Eco’s patented enzymatic process, we’re advancing transforming apparel waste into high quality nylon and polyester, which will help us live into our end-to-end vision of circularity.”

Samsara Eco aims to reduce the world’s reliance on fossil fuels and addressing the climate crisis.

It means Samsara Eco can now break down mixed apparel derived from plastic to its core molecules, which can then be used to recreate brand-new apparel again and again.

Following its $56 million Series A funding round last year, the partnership and investment from lululemon comes as Samsara Eco gears up for commercialisation to bring the potential of infinite recycling to the fashion industry.