Moral Fiber, formerly Ambercycle Inc, is pioneering an eco-friendly polyester textile as part of its plan to combat marine plastic pollution. The business is also working on its first clothing collection. The polyester is the world’s first textile product made entirely from old clothing and was invented by Indian scientists Akshay Sethi and Moby Ahmed experimented on using microbes to break down polyesters and created a three step process.

The business is currently testing its three step textile process at a plant in Los Angeles and the plant itself is powered by incinerating left over materials from processing. Sethi and Ahmed also aim to switch to solar power to run the plant in the future.

By 2020, the business aims to start distribution of the textile. Made by extracting the polyester at a molecular level from mixed cotton-poly blend fabrics, the business produces a new yarn. The plant currently processes around 100 kg of fabric scraps a day and aims to scale up production. The business is also working on its first clothing collection using the eco-friendly fabric.