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The fashion factory
of tomorrow
US start-up The Renewable Workshop is described by co-founder Nicole Bassett
as a factory for the post-consumer supply chain. She joined Recycling International
on a Zoom call to celebrate a recent milestone: the opening of its first facility in
Europe. With their Amsterdam location established, Bassett and business partner
Jeff Denby are ready to take textile recycling to the next level.
Cleaning with CO2
‘Jeff and I wanted the best cleaning
technology to make sure the products
that leave our workshop look as good
as new,’ Bassett emphasises. ‘For
most products we utilise Tersus
Solutions, the world’s most advanced
waterless cleaning technology.’
This innovative system is essentially a
big washing machine capable of pro-
cessing 22 kg per hour-long cycle.
Tersus harnesses the gentle cleaning
properties of liquid CO2 to remove
oils, particulates and odour that
degrade the useful life of apparel. It’s
a closed-loop system where the CO2
starts out as a gas and is compressed
into a liquid.
‘Once in liquid form it runs similar to
your home washing machine, using an
‘We diverted almost 115 tonnes of
textile waste from landfill since The
Renewable Workshop launched in
June 2016,’ Bassett reports. In doing
so, the business saved enough water
to fill 137 Olympic sized swimming
pools, 85 444 litres of gas, and 25 178
light bulbs worth of energy while
avoiding the use of 94 tonnes of toxic
chemicals.
A well-known partner of the company
is The North Face. It also does busi-
ness with towels and sheets producer
Coyuchi, eco-label Indigenous, lug-
gage brand Eagle Creek, and sports
accessories company Manduka, which
runs a dedicated yoga mat recycling
scheme.
‘I am so proud we have opened our
first factory overseas,’ Bassett says.
‘The next milestone will be to process
one million pounds (450 tonnes) of
textiles by 2025.’ In a couple of years,
a second expansion may follow, possi-
bly in Portugal.
Renewed in six steps
‘Everything we make comes from a
large pool of unsold or returned
items, customer take-back pro-
grammes or production waste,’
Bassett says. The material varies from
cotton T-shirts and ‘frilly dresses’ from
lifestyle brands to thicker outerwear
and canvas bags. Some are worn,
some brand new.
Each item goes through a unique
six-step renewal process inside the
factory. After sorting and cleaning,
repair work is carried out on zippers,
buttons etc. Items are then certified
to ensure they meet the original brand
standards and each one is scored for
environmental impact. Finally,
renewed items are shipped to custom-
ers.
‘We spent most of our first year in
operation getting the barcoding and
scanning system just right,’ Bassett
recalls. ‘It was a first for us so we had
many things to figure out: what details
to put in the system, finding the best
software to track and trace different
items in our product library and how
to build an online market place.’ She
adds with a laugh, ‘It took a bit more
work than I anticipated.’
After upgrading the system several
times, The Renewal Workshop is now
connected to its partners’ databases.
This allows the crew to match style
numbers printed inside a pair of trou-
sers, for example, with the maker’s
product details. This makes resale
more efficient.
Nicole Bassett: ‘Everything we create looks good as new. Quality is everything, even if it’s just a shirt.’
A U T h o R Kirstin Linnenkoper
38-39-40-41-42-43_flagshipamsterdam.indd 38 15-04-20 14:17
