Eyewear made of recycled clothes

German start-up Kleiderly recycles waste clothing into a new material that they use to make sunglasses.

There is 5.5 kilograms of textile waste per person in Europe, annually. Around 80 per cent is made of synthetic fibres. 87 per cent of waste clothes ends up on the landfills, where they are left to decompose slowly, which will take over 200 years, releasing greenhouse gasses, or incinerated.

Using their patent-pending technology, Kleiderly turns waste textile into a new material, that can be used to make various products. First, they collect clothing from retailers and local charities and presort it. The clothing is then processed using “low energy technology”. The material that is then created can be processed into products.

The start-up has developed what they say is the world’s first eyewear line made from recycled textile waste, consisting of sunglasses and blue light filtering glasses.

Kleiderly sees it as their mission to ensure unwanted textiles are recycled instead of ending up on the landfills, while at the same time, they aim to reduce the amount of oil-based plastic products. The company says to have saved 7,600 tonnes of carbon equivalent from the atmosphere.

Photos: Kleiderly