UK T-shirt manufacturer Teemill has launched its new ‘circular’ T-shirts, which are designed to be returned after use and then remade into new garments.
The T-shirts are designed to be sent back to the company once they’re no longer needed, the old material is recovered and then a new product is made. For each worn out tee returned for renewal, Teemill sends its customers a £5 discount code.
Teemill said: “It is different to recycling or upcycling where material is turned into something different before it’s then thrown away. A circular economy is infinite because by design the material flows in a loop.”
The circular tees are made from organic cotton and are designed to be reused without adding polyester, which produces “a pure material that makes remanufacturing possible”. This also results in products that are softer and not harmful to the environment, reports Teemill. The company’s packaging is also made from natural materials, rather than plastic.
The company hopes to extend the circular supply chain to other branded T-shirts in the future, but for now will focus on remaking its own products. Teemill added: “It’s important to keep the materials stream pure and many other brands use plastic or semi-synthetic materials – even recycled plastic – that shed microplastics into our oceans, whereas our products are made from natural materials in a way that is designed for easy re-manufacturing.”
By providing customers with free access to its circular supply chain online, the company said it intends to automate the complex decision-making process required to run a real time supply chain for the tens of thousands of startups, brands and charities, which will be connected to its factory via the cloud. Teemill concluded: “In our modern process, products are only made in real time – in the seconds after they are ordered – so there is no waste inventory.
“Modern technology is disrupting the fashion industry and for us, conscientious application of tech means we can make sustainable fashion a reality. The future of fashion is circular, and we are building it on the cloud today.”
