Food Waste Polyester Alternatives

ALT TEX aims to create "the world’s most radically sustainable polyester alternative." The startup sources its base material from "one of the world's largest landfill contributors—food waste" and its final product will surely have a lot of implications for one of the world's most polluting industries—fashion.

The polyester alternative is reached by ALT TEX through a patent-pending food-to-fabric technology that sees the start-up fermenting waste into polymers and turning those polymers into yarn. The yarn is then spun into a durable material that can substitute traditional polyester—a material that relies on "55 million barrels of oil annually" for its manufacturing.

ALT TEX's polyester alternative is biodegradable and carbon neutral. It retains the performance expected from traditional polyester fabric and the startup notes that its yarn is cost-competitive.

Image Credit: ALT TEX