Australia is closing the loop on fashion manufacturing

Australian company BlockTexx is unlocking the value of unwanted textiles to help future-proof the fashion industry. Co-founder of BlockTexx, Graham Ross, believes no piece of clothing should end up in landfill. It was this thinking, and a global movement to address overconsumption and overproduction, that drove him and co-founder Adrian Jones to establish BlockTexx, the world’s first commercial-scale textile resource recovery facility. BlockTexx takes unwanted textiles, such as clothing and hotel linen, and repurposes them to create raw materials for reuse in a variety of industries. The company plans to scale its Queensland recovery facility to process more than 10,000 tonnes of textiles per year.

“BlockTexx came about because there is actually a real movement … to think about our overconsumption and our overproduction and effectively close the loop on the way we manufacture.” – Graham Ross Through a separation process, BlockTexx creates two raw materials: rPET pellets and cellulose powder. The rPET pellets can be used in injection moulding to make objects such as tabletops and playground equipment. Meanwhile, cellulose powder can be used in a variety of industries including building, to make mortars and paints, and agriculture, for use in land regeneration. By 2030, an estimated 140 million tonnes of unwanted clothing and textiles are destined for landfill across the world. BlockTexx’s mission is to close the loop on clothing manufacturing and future-proof the textile industry, while inspiring other industries to do the same. BlockTexx’s innovative technology is a welcome initiative by the business events industry, with Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC) utilising the recycling facility to help recycle linens, cottons and uniforms that are beyond their use-by date. To watch more stories of innovative Australians leading the way in various sectors and to discover why there’s nothing like Australia for business events, visit Australia.com/businessevents/AustraliaInnovates