The Trendsetters

Start-up: Keel Labs

Founder/s: Tessa Callaghan, Aleksandra Gosiewski and Aaron Nesser

Based In: Morrisville, NC, USA

Website: www.keellabs.com

What They Do: Did you know that the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions and that this number is only set to climb in the next decade? That is why Keel Labs, formerly known as AlgiKnit, is on a mission to create eco-conscious, renewable yarns to help lower the impact on the environment. Keel Labs is providing a scalable and sustainable alternative for designers, manufacturers, and consumers by utilizing materials with a significantly lower environmental footprint than conventional textiles. Their yarns are made from one of the most renewing organisms on the planet: kelp. Kelp makes a durable fabric yet is easily degradable when a product’s lifespan has reached its end. And what’s even more important, Keel Labs is making these yarns accessible to all. Affordable and circular? Now that’s a catwalk we are ready to walk down.

What They Say: “In 2022, Keel Labs™ was established as a platform for innovation, broadening our vision for the potential of the ocean to accelerate our planet’s development towards a more sustainable future. Driven by the exploration of novel resources from the ocean, Keel Labs™ functions as a hub for the next generation of climate-focused solutions derived from nature.”

Never Single Again

Start-up: Algramo

Founder/s: José Manuel Moller

Based In: Santiago, Chile

Website: algramo.com

What They Do: From soft drinks to dog food, toothpaste, and detergents, way too many items come with plastic packaging and 91% of them are single use, which has a detrimental effect on biodiversity. Algramo aims to do better by providing customers with affordable reusable containers and dispensers involving smart technology. Founded in 2013 by José Manuel Moller in Chile’s capital, he and two friends from college wanted to make an impact for customers with low income and offer the possibility to buy everyday goods in small amounts at bulk prices. This concept is where the name Algramo comes from, Spanish for “by the gram”. Since then, the idea has evolved into something much bigger. By offering a turnkey solution that brings together big brands and big retailers and saves consumers a little cash, everyone benefits as well as the environment. After proof of the concept in Chile and its small 0.25% share on worldwide emissions, Algramo now also targets markets like the UK and collaborates with big players like Unilever, Nestlé, Walmart, and Lidl, to reach their goal of contributing to the achievement of the Paris Agreement by 2030.

What They Say: “Algramo aims to empower everyone to radically change consumption habits and secure a thriving future for current and next generations.”

The Circularity Geeks

Start-up: Circular IQ

Founder/s: Roy Vercoulen and Niels van der Linden

Based In: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Website: circular-iq.com

What They Do: So, your company wants to improve its impact on the planet and take the next step on their circular transition journey, but where do you even start? Energy, transportation, materials; it can be tricky to know which to change to have biggest positive impact on the planet. What’s more, you want options which are cost-effective and easy to implement. Self-confessed circularity geeks Circular IQ have identified the biggest hurdle to making these choices: incomplete and incomparable data on circularity. This is where their flagship product CTI Tool comes in handy. The software combines and simplifies the data to complete the picture of your business’ circular performance, demystifying the process and signposting the way to a circular future.

What They Say: “Our mission is to help you achieve your sustainability goals with circular solutions.”

The Global Supply Chain Conductors

Start-up: Circulor

Founder/s: Douglas Johnson-Poensgen

Based In: London, England

Website: circulor.com

What They Do: Did you know that in Latin, “Circulor” means ‘to form groups’? And that’s exactly what the team at Circulor is hard at work achieving. Founded and headquartered in the UK in 2018, they have since become a global company and built technology for the manufacturing and recycling supply chains. Their technology is able to track high-risk and high human impact materials, ensuring responsible sourcing, improved ESG performance, and reduced Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG). With the Circulor solution to make global supply chains traceable, ethical, and sustainable, complex supply chains will soon be a thing of the past, as well as the exploitation of people and the planet. Companies already using Circulor technology include: Boeing, ORACLE, and Mercedes.

What They Say: “Our vision is to decarbonise industrial supply chains to further accelerate a Circular Economy.”

The Re-Volting Mobility Architects

Start-up: Circunomics

Founder/s: Felix Wagner and Jan Born

Based In: Mainz, Germany

Website: circunomics.com

What They Do: By 2030, there is estimated to be 200-300 million electric vehicles on the road. However, this also means an increase in battery demand. To be fully sustainable in this transition, German based start-up Circunomics has a solution: to drive green mobility and new energy by optimizing recycling of second life batteries through data. They have created a technology and analytics software that is able to carefully monitor and predict battery conditions; crucial considering that more than 60% of energy storage demand could be covered by second life supply of EV batteries in 2025. Circunomics’s artificial intelligence solution enables smart databased decision-making, including all relevant data points of each battery as well as the market situation – turning waste into value. The re-charge we all need!

What They Say: “We are pursing a circular battery economy by enabling an efficient reuse and recycling of EV-batteries through our predictive analytics and marketplace.”

Property Thrifters

Start-up: Concular

Founder/s: Dominik Campanella, Julius Schäufele, and Marc Haines

Based In: Berlin and Stuttgart, Germany

Website: concular.de

What They Do: From stadium seats and bricks, to ceiling lights and wooden beams – Concular is kind of an antiques’ dealer in the construction business, better described as Prop-Tech (property technology). The German start-up wants to increase the amount of materials reused in the construction business, which is currently at an exiguous one per cent in the country. The team of architects, software engineers, and sustainability experts developed a digital building resource passport to actively support project developers and property owners in measuring and optimizing circularity, CO₂ footprint, and material value over the building’s entire life cycle. And they match supply and demand via algorithm. Even renters benefit and can score bargains on the sales of demolition buildings such as former department stores or soccer stadiums.

What They Say: “Our vision at Concular is to promote circular construction and thus help the construction industry become resource efficient and CO2 neutral.”

The Packaging Redeemers

Start-up: hey circle GmbH

Founder/s: Doris Diebold

Based In: Munich, Germany

Website: https://www.heycircle.de/

What They Do: Tired of the “walk of shame” to the recycling bin with all those paper boxes? So is hey circle. That’s why they have developed reusable packaging for shipping parcels. Their target: online e-commerce, which is a constantly growing area and an increasing cause of CO₂ emissions; every second, 50kg of packaging ends up in the bin. hey circle is looking to prevent this statistic with their reusable box, which is not only robust, lightweight, foldable, water resistant, and dirt repellent but also looks cool and comes with a security enhanced zipper lock system. Their boxes come in several sizes and even allow individual branding on the lid. And forget the walk of shame. hey circle packaging can be returned conveniently and inexpensively through the mail – with just 40 cycles reducing trash by 94% and CO₂ emissions by 43%. A victory lap!

What They Say: “Our box competes against the disposable cardboard box and sets out to establish reusable packaging as a standard process in eCommerce, avoiding waste and CO₂ emissions.”

Food Waste Warriors

Start-up: KITRO

Founder/s: Anastasia Hofmann and Naomi MacKenzie

Based In: Vaud, Switzerland

Website: kitro.ch

What They Do: More than 900 million tonnes of food are thrown away every year, reported the UN’s Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index in 2021, and the hospitality industry is part of the problem. KITRO’s founders were appalled by the tremendous amount of food they saw binned every day while working in the industry. However, this inspired them to create a genius product to solve the global issue. Enter: KITRO. Their AI technology collects food waste data at hotels, restaurants, school canteens and more, showing kitchens what’s ending up in their bins so they can make informed choices to produce less waste. The clever technology helps kitchens reduce up to 60% of their edible food waste, which is great news for the planet and their pocket. Because food is better when it’s appreciated and not wasted.

What They Say: “KITRO aims to harness the power of data to save valuable resources and bring back the value of all food.”

The Super Seekers

Start-up Name: Loopcycle

Founder/s: Lugano Kapembwa, Chandan Rajah, and Mark Chadwick

Based In: London, England

Website: loopcycle.io

What They Do: Knowing where physical assets are and how they are being used at every stage of their lifecycle decreases a business need to rebuy, saving money but also the planet’s valuable resources. Yes, keeping track of every product would be a daunting task for most to take on – if you thought it was hard to remember your keys, wallet, and phone, try remembering the location of hundreds of thousands of appliances! Loopcycle’s traceability technology tracks where each product is in the supply chain, allowing businesses to find and recover their valuable resources at any time to get the best usage out of it. And, when the equipment is no longer needed, Loopcycle have another trick up their sleeve, helping to find it a new home and enabling second hand exchanges. The end of take-make-waste culture is in sight.

What They Say: “We help commercial equipment manufacturers and operators trace, manage and recover physical assets throughout their lifecycle.”

Builders of a Better Future

Start-up: Madaster

Founder/s: Martijn Oostenrijk and Pablo van den Bosch

Based In: Laren, The Netherlands

Website: madaster.com 

What they do: My home is my castle? According to Madaster it should read “my home is my resource”. The dutch start-up defines todays’ cities as the urban mines of tomorrow. In a world of continuously growing population, people need more domestic premises. But resources are expensive, supply challenges grow, and – most important – the construction sector consumes enormous resources producing more than half of the world’s waste. Since 2017, work with what you got has been the belief of Madaster. Their digital platform registers materials used in new buildings and puts a “circularity indicator” to it based on numerous scores. It not only systematically records what has been built, but also in what quantities and how much of it can be recycled or reused making existing property to material banks for future constructions.

What They Say: “Madaster regards the earth as a closed system within which there should be no waste. Registering and documenting the materials and products used in the built environment provides insight into how these resources could be reused, time and again.”

The Guilt-Free Laundry Pioneers

Start-up: Matter

Founder/s: Adam Root

Based In: Bristol, England

Website: gulp.online

What They Do: Our clothing is an often underreported and overlooked pollutant. Scientists estimate that microplastic pollutants washed off synthetic clothes during laundry contribute to up to 35% of the plastic polluting our oceans, poisoning marine life, and even ending up in the food we eat. Matter is on a mission to reduce that figure, addressing the source of the issue: your laundry. Gulp is their answer. The world’s first self-cleaning microfibre filter fits any washing machine filter, removing the microplastic fibres at the source. Gulp eats microplastics so that you don’t have to. Matter’s next step is to complete the loop, finding ways to recycle these microplastics into other products we need, while keeping the oceans clean for us all to enjoy.

What They Say: “We are an innovation company pioneering technology solutions for capturing, harvesting and recycling microplastics.”

Laundering for the Good

Start-up: Mimbly

Founder/s: Isabella Palmgren and Emil Vestman

Based In: Göteborg, Sweden

Website: mimbly.se

What They Do: Swedish start-up Mimbly is washing up a laundry revolution with their innovative solutions to the global water crisis. 99% of the water supply around the world is unusable and the other 1% is being used at unprecedented and dangerous rates; the UN predicts that 5 billion people could be affected by water scarcity in 2050. Right now, this very limited resource is being used for everything from drinking water supplies and sanitation to industry and agriculture. However, the team at Mimbly did their research and found that we don’t need to be using drinkable water to wash our clothes. This is where their first product the Mimbox comes in, circumventing water waste by analyzing and reusing the best quality water. But Mimbly didn’t stop there. On top of water waste, microplastics have also become a macro problem. That is why the Mimbox is also equipped with a state-of-the-art filtration system to stop microplastics from entering our bodies and oceans. The Mimbox has the ability to connect to any brand and is currently available to order for larger scale laundry facilities. And a household version is already on the minds of the Mimbly team. We’ve never been so excited to do laundry!

What They Say: “We strive to rethink our way of using water by providing people and business with the most convenient solutions — to save natural resources and reduce microplastic pollution in everyday laundry.”

The Plastic Pioneers

Start-up: Mr. Green Africa

Founders: Keiran Smith and Karim Debabe

Based In: Nairobi, Kenya

Website: mrgreenafrica.com

What They Do: Nairobi and Zurich are worlds apart. Yet both cities face plastic waste. Former economics student Keiran Smith originally founded Mr. Green as a recycling subscription for Swiss customers in 2014, he then wanted to prove that the business model also worked in a frontier market. He started with fellow student Karim Debabe in Nairobi, Kenya, a city drowning in single-use plastic. Since 2017, Mr. Green Africa has created 120 jobs, has improved the livelihood of more than 2,500 litter pickers by providing them with a fair, predictable income. He has cleaned up the environment by collecting over 6,000 tons of waste and now processes the plastic in his factory, selling the recycled product to manufacturing companies. An attempt that just has been boosted by a major round of investment to scale its business model across the continent. The once pioneer has turned into a true change-maker.

What They Say: “We want to become the brand who supplies high quality and fair recycled plastics, while positioning social and environmental impact.”

The Underwater Heroes

Start-up: mujō

Founder/s: Juni Sun Neyenhuys and Annekathrin Grüneberg

Based In: Berlin, Germany

Website: mujolab.com

What They Do: Every year, 454 million tons of plastic are produced globally. Over a third of this plastic is then used for packaging, and, as we very well know, single-use plastic is not meant to last. But what if, instead of polluting landfills and oceans for centuries, packaging could be designed to disappear naturally and quickly? Berlin based start-up mujō has found a solution with their biodegradable packaging materials made of kelp, a fast-growing alga that doesn’t need additional water or agricultural land to grow. Their team of designers and scientists are using natural resources to develop supplies that also give back to the planet – did you know kelp produces oxygen and purifies the ocean water as it grows? Mujō, a Japanese concept with its origin in Buddhism, refers to the impermanence of all being. Exactly what packaging materials should embody. The innovative team at mujō is making sure that the products of today no longer become the waste of tomorrow.

What They Say: “mujō develops innovative biodegradable packaging materials from seaweed in order to usher in the post plastic era in which packaging materials exist just as long as they are needed.”

The Re-Sourcing Power Couple

Start-up: Numi Circular

Founder/s: Andrea Schneller and Mario Schneller

Based In: Munich, Germany

Website: numicircular.com

What They Do: No return? No way! The estimations reach from 10,000 to 300,000 belongings in an average western world household. A second or third life for products is scarcely intended, more precise only 8.6 percent of the world’s resources are reused. With a software-based, digital infrastructure for circular product take-back, numi is supporting companies to become more sustainable and face the increasing scarcity. Currently in the pilot phase, numi teams up with brands within the product segments of fashion, sports, and kids equipment as well as tools and supports them to set-up, manage, and track individual Take Back programs. By gaining access to used products, companies can open up new revenue streams through re-commerce, remanufacturing, or recycling. A win-win-situation the Munich based couple wants to establish broadly in 2023.

What They Say: “We envision an economy, where materials are kept in a cycle and all products are used, reused and repaired as long as possible.”

Fashionistas for the Future

Start-up: Resortecs

Founder/s: Cédric Vanhoeck and Vanessa Counaert

Based In: Brussels, Belgium

Website: resortecs.com

What They Do: Away from the glamour of the catwalk and magazine spreads, the fashion industry’s dirty secrets have been revealed to the world, front and center is the wastage. Every second, one truck full of textile is wasted across the earth. And when it comes to being wasted, these are not destined for recycling, but for the landfill, with just 1% of all garments recycled. It’s not that this material couldn’t be recycled and reused elsewhere. It could, but was ineffective and laborious — or at least it was. Resortecs’ SmartStitch thread dissolves to make it easy to take apart clothes for reuse or recycling, and their thermal disassembly system Smart Disassembly speeds up the process, bringing a new lease of life to textiles. Circularity and fashion need not only apply to the Spring/Summer and Winter/Fall seasons, the future of fashion is circular.

What They Say: “The future of fashion will be circular or there won’t be a future.”

The Fashion Magicians

Start-up: Rubi Laboratories

Founder/s: Neeka Mashouf and Leila Mashouf

Based In: San Francisco, CA, USA

Website: rubi.earth

What They Do: What if every piece of clothing you bought could reverse climate change? Alert all fashion addicts because this is now possible. You can expand your wardrobe and remove CO₂ from the planet. In fact, every garment Rubi makes removes two bathtubs of CO₂. Now, for the really cool part – yes, even cooler than saving our planet – Rubi is crafting these garments out of thin air. Really. Their technology recreates how trees breath in CO₂ from the air and uses it to build up its trunk and leaves, but here this CO₂ reacts with stabilized enzymes to make long thin fibres, which can be turned into clothes; only these clothes come without the water, land, and chemical pollution and are even naturally biodegradable. Who said goods production had to be inherently linked to polluting the earth? With a little bit of science, Rubi is making clothes that help the planet.

What They Say: “Rubi’s vision is a world where human prosperity is symbiotic with the planet.”

Field to Fashion Designers

Start-up: The Hurd Co.

Founder/s: Taylor Heisley-Cook, David Mun, Charles Cai, Michael Gurin

Based In: Los Angeles, CA, USA

Website: thehurdco.com

What They Do: What to wear is not only a question of style (nor mood or weather), but of environmental consciousness. Materials like rayon, viscose, modal, or lyocell are traditionally made of wood pulp, purified cellulose. That requires trees. According to The Hurd Co., the fashion industry cuts down 200 million trees – every year! To avoid deforestation the Californian start-up invented a material from agricultural waste called agrilose in 2019, mainly using hemp. The plant is harvested for CBD and protein as well as traditional hemp fiber, but most of it is thrown away or burned. The Hurd Co. uses 70% of this waste for their pulping process needing half as much water and 350 times less energy than the conventional process. Additionally, they hand byproducts to partner facilities to make biofuels and bioplastics. A closed-loop that started as a thesis paper and now targets the big players in fashion, allowing consumers to make more sustainable choices.

What They Say: “Trees should be plants, not pants.”

The Untraceable, Anti-Plastic Warriors

Start-up: traceless materials GmbH

Founder/s: Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare

Based In: Hamburg, Germany

Website: www.traceless.eu

What They Do/About: Imagine a plastic free world: no more toxic plastic containers, films, and utensils ending up in landfills and the oceans endangering our wildlife. With traceless’s compostable packing solution this dream can become a reality. The German bioeconomy start-up has created a sustainable alternative material to conventional plastics and bioplastic using natural biopolymers in agricultural industry residues. Instead of synthetically creating new polymer molecules, they use ones that nature has already provided. In fact, anything that plastic can do, traceless can do better. With innovative patent-pending technology, the 100% female founded start-up produces traceless materials that can be further processed into a number of end products – flexible films, rigid material, coatings, adhesives, you name it! A holistically sustainable alternative to conventional plastics and bioplastics designed to leave no trace? Sign us up!

What They Say: “We envision a world where the materials we use impact positively on the planet and where pollution and waste are history.”

The Natural Beauticians

Start-up: Werewool Inc.

Founder/s: Theanne Schiros, Chui-Lian Lee, Valentina Gomez, Allie Obermeyer, and Helen Lu

Based In: New York, USA

Website: werewool.bio

What They Do: We ask a lot from our clothes. That they’re waterproof, comfortable, colorful, and machine washable. However, we rarely ask if they’re eco-friendly. To address our long list of requirements, textile producers have long used toxic dyes, coatings, and production processes. These are damaging our planet’s biodiversity, polluting fresh water and producing harmful microplastics – all for our fast fashion whims. The brilliant team of scientists at Werewool are reversing this polluting cycle, and redesigning textiles for a circular economy by following in nature’s footprints and harnessing proteins, the building blocks of life, from the natural world. By copying and extracting protein molecules from nature’s most colorful organisms, these bright minds can create bright fabrics that are sustainable and fit the fashion bill. If it’s good enough for the animal kingdom, why not us too?!

What They Say: “Inspired by nature, and utilizing the tools of biotechnology, Werewool is developing a platform to design fibers at the DNA level for sustainable textiles with inherent properties that meet the demands of today’s consumers.”