Denim upcycled into home goods
09/03/2022
The company, based in Ayutthaya, Thailand, and backed by Saitex, has developed a method to recycle end-of-use apparel from customers and fabric off-cuts from manufacturing into a new material.
Denim textile waste is first manually sorted by colour, then de-trimmed (buttons, zips, rivets, etc. are removed) by a custom-built machine. The stripped-down textile waste is then chemically recycled and blended with a proprietary binder that includes natural rubber to make multipurpose 4’ x 8’ panels. Each board can be made up of approximately 25 to 60 pairs of jeans, depending on the thickness of the board, the company says. Stelapop’s facility claims to be able to convert 36 tonnes of textiles into material boards per month.
The innovative concept is being launched with a capsule collection co-developed with LA-based denim brand Edwin. The first products, coasters, serving trays and small storage boxes will be followed by side tables, lounge chairs, dinner tables, hangers and bookcases. These are available for purchase on the Stelapop website.
The partnership with Edwin USA “is just the first step,” said Stelapop CEO Aummy Ninkamhang. “Our dream is to locate our facilities where the waste is, so we can clean up and reduce the carbon footprint on logistics.” She mentions the U.S. and Europe for post-consumer waste and Southeast Asia for pre-consumer waste.
Image: Stelapop
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