Deakin University x Samsara Eco
Australia’s Deakin University’s Recycling and Clean Energy Commercialization Hub (REACH) is teaming up with Samsara Eco. The partnership aims to accelerate the development of a groundbreaking recycling technology capable of processing plastics and textiles once thought to be impossible to recycle.
Samsara Eco has developed AI-designed enzymes that can break down fossil fuel-based materials like nylon 6,6 and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into their basic chemical building blocks, or monomers. These monomers can then be rebuilt into new products with the same quality as virgin materials.
Through this collaboration, Samsara Eco will tap into Deakin’s advanced chemical analysis and polymer processing expertise to address a key challenge, identifying and recycling specific additives in textile waste, such as dyes, finishes, and coatings.
Paul Riley, Founder and CEO of Samsara Eco, emphasised their mission to achieve true circularity for all plastics. He noted that their enzymatic recycling technology can infinitely recycle PET and nylon 6,6 from textiles, including mixed fibres and plastics, and that working with Deakin will help them scale and speed up the process.
Unlike mechanical recycling, which lowers the quality of materials over time, Samsara Eco’s enzymatic depolymerisation technology enables worn or contaminated textiles to be remade into materials equal in quality to new ones. Distinguished Professor Colin Barrow, Chair in Biotechnology at Deakin, explained that their research focuses on how chemical treatments such as dyes and finishes impact fibre breakdown and rebuilding, aiming to produce high-performance recycled materials from all waste types.
Associate Professor Chris Hurren from Deakin’s Institute for Frontier Materials added that by testing recycled materials in real-world processing, the team is refining the recycling pipeline and moving closer to large-scale closed-loop textile recycling. He believes this technology could transform the textile industry, reducing emissions and waste while offering economic benefits.
Biotechnology company AMSilk is preparing to increase the large-scale production of its silk proteins through its partnership with Ajinomoto Foods…
H&M has introduced a denim collection made with Tencel | Circ with Refibra technology, demonstrating the potential of textile-to-textile recycling…
Spain-based research centre AIMPLAS is developing new enzyme-based recycling methods for marine plastic waste through its Oceanzyme project.
Louis Vuitton has introduced a new lightweight material called Silk Tech, made using a twill weave that combines silk with…
Researchers at Harvard University have developed programmable knitted textiles that can perform functions beyond traditional fabrics.
Agricultural biotechnology company Avalo has selected Advance Denim as its first mill partner for the denim market across China, Vietnam,…