Circular Systems’ Agraloop is looking at food crop waste as a valuable resource, a feed stock for natural fiber products.
Most agricultural waste from food crops is burned or discarded. All which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Approximately 270 million tons of banana waste is left to rot annually, and in India, 32 million acres of rice straw is burnt.
However, as winner of the 2018 Global Change Award, this company is changing the way textile and fashion industry operates, to make it better for farmers and the planet. Their circular production is helping redefine the meaning of sustainable materials.
The world’s first regenerative industrial system for textile production, ideated by Yitzac Goldstein. Nick Tipon from Fibershed, one of the world’s experts in regenerative farming practices and fiber systems described it as a giant mechanical sheep.
A sheep consumes biomass left over from food production. It breaks it down and turns it into nutrition. Then fertilizes the field, and by trampling it, improves the fertility cycle.
Agraloop does the same, at an industrial level. By using some of the waste to create energy. It upgrades the leftover biomass from food crop production. The effluent remaining is beneficial rather than the caustic salts that come from traditional fiber processing or dye processing. The effluent is a perfect organic fertilizer that farms can use again to build soil fertility, just like sheep do.
Textiles produced by Agraloop is different than recycled fabrics. Since, some recycled cotton textiles are inferior. Mechanical recycling tears the fabric, creating shorter staple fibers, resulting in loss of strength. Ultimately, causes issues like pilling. Blending it with recycled polyester, also causes inconsistency.
Yitzac has found a solution for the above, too. By creating a yarn system that allows production of stronger-than-traditional virgin yarns that are also higher performing than traditional synthetics. Their moisture management will meet or exceed the performance of the Adidas Climate Cool or Nike Dri Fit with no chemical finishing and all recycled and organic inputs. Agraloop’s process is changing the concept of recycled fabric.
Agraloop is proof to the world that we can create industrial systems that are beneficial to humanity and to our habitat. They are striving to fix things, regeneration, and to being truly circular.
