Teemill launches sustainable clothing material designed to tackle fashion waste

By IW Galleries Feb 28, 2020

Teemill, the Isle of Wight-based sustainable fashion platform, has launched Remill, the world’s first circular economy clothing material, designed to be remade over and over again.

The material, which can be used to manufacture virtually all types of clothing we wear today, is made from post-consumer textile waste. Using natural, biodegradable organic cotton, Teemill products are designed to be returned to their factory once worn out, where new products are made from the recovered material to create a circular economy. Further to this, Teemill has also invested in technology to print in real-time and on-demand, ensuring that each item is only manufactured when it is needed. With one truck full of textiles thrown into landfill or burned every second, Remill offers an innovative solution to ‘fast fashion’ waste.

The launch comes after Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking last year supported Teemill with a six-figure funding package and hire purchase facility from its Clean Growth Finance Initiative. The £2billion scheme from Lloyds Bank, which supports companies proactively seeking to reduce their carbon footprint, helped Teemill to expand the business, purchase new equipment and further develop its solar farm.

Unlike recycling, which usually has a limited number of iterations before ending up in landfill, Remill focuses on circular remanufacturing and ‘closing the loop’; the ultimate re-use goal for values-led designers.

With the launch of Remill, more than 50,000 online stores connected to Teemill’s platform will now be able to make use of this circular supply chain and offer Remill products to their customers. Consumers are incentivised to keep worn-out material flowing back to be remanufactured with a discount coupon, activated by scanning the interactive wash care label on every product.

Existing partners already benefiting from this new technology include charitable organisations WWF International and War Child UK, as well as eco-friendly search engine Ecosia and social media influencer Very British Problems. The platform is free to sign up to, enabling anybody online to build their own sustainable fashion brand.

Mart Drake-Knight, co-founder of Teemill, said: “Remill proves that a fundamentally different way of operating is possible today. Now that we’ve built the digital infrastructure to power a circular economy, our goal is to scale it by sharing access to our technology via our platform.

“Access lets people participate and co-create the products they want to see in the world. Fun, fresh clothing, without literally costing the Earth. With natural materials and renewable energy, brands can create designs that never have to go into landfill. That, for us, is the future of fashion.”

Ben Mackett, relationship manager at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, added: “Today’s launch is indicative of Teemill’s unwavering commitment to operating with sustainability at its core. The rapid growth of its customer base speaks for itself, with customers across the UK valuing the quality of their products.

“Mart and the team’s success proves the value both of doing things the way you believe in and of discounted green lending schemes like the Clean Growth Finance scheme, which will be by the side of sustainable firms as they take steps to achieve growth.”