Lululemon is investing in a textile recycling project in partnership with an Australian company, Samsara Eco.

Samsara Eco has just opened its first commercial-scale plant near Canberra with an investment of A$30 million ($20 million). The facility is expected to process 1.5 million tons of plastic annually by 2030. The recycled materials will be used by Lululemon and other brands from various industries.

Samsara Eco’s proprietary technology uses artificial intelligence to create special enzymes that can break down synthetic materials that are normally considered unrecyclable. The new plant includes research labs and development spaces to help expand the range of plastics it can process. The company aimed to develop an enzyme that could address unrecyclable plastics, says Paul Riley, CEO, Samsara Eco. It continues to look at some of those harder-to-recycle plastics, he adds.

The need for new recycling technologies has become more urgent, especially after international talks in August failed to create a global treaty to limit plastic pollution. According to Gail Glazerman, Analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence, increasing regulations and changing consumer preferences are driving growth in the fiber recovery market. For example, in the Netherlands, a new law requires that 25 per cent of textile fibers used in new products must be from recycled sources.

Globally, about 60 per cent of clothing materials are plastic-based, including polyester, acrylic, and nylon, but only 9 per cent of plastics are actually recycled. Unlike traditional mechanical recycling, which requires sorting and melting, Samsara Eco’s process uses enzymes to chemically break down different types of plastic and their dyes.

Lululemon signed a 10-year agreement with Samsara in June to get access to recycled nylon and polyester, and has already used the materials in a new jacket. The brand has identified material innovation as a business opportunity, believing it can boost sales from sustainability-conscious consumers, notes Glazerman