To bring its innovative solutions to the market, sustainable chemical company Fairbrics has raised € 17 million from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and € 5 million from partners to the Technology Upscaling Project, totalling it to € 22 million.
60 percent of all textiles produced today are made of polyester and one-third of the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions come from polyester production. Fairbrics offers a scalable and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels for industries that rely heavily on energy. Fairbrics will initially focus on the fashion industry and the company has already formed strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as H&M, On-Running and Aigle.
The company announced it will use the funds to expand its proprietary technology, which uses a process to recycle CO2 waste gases to produce textile products instead of conventional polyester made from fossil fuels.
A pilot plant with a capacity of 100 kg per day is expected to be operational by 2024 besides a demonstration plant with a capacity of one tonne per day by 2026.
Using a circular approach that recycles CO2 waste fumes from chemical plants into high-value textile products, the primary goal is to combat climate change and speed up the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries by switching from polyester made from fossil fuels to polyester made from CO2.
