Annual Recap of 2022

Soon it's time to go offline for a moment, head outside, take a deep breath and enjoy a piece of chocolate or a few! However, before that, we want to thank *you* for 2022 and look at the past year.

At the edge of the new year, it's good to recognise that every choice matters. During the past year, we recycled 62 674 kilograms of textile waste. Together, we saved 446 931 335 litres of water and produced 311 850 kilograms less carbon emissions by choosing recycled materials instead of producing virgin materials.

The first collection

We responded to the wishes in the spring by launching the first DROPS collection designed for the consumer market, which continued in the fall. The purpose of the collection is to bring a responsible alternative to the field of everyday fashion. DROPS brought new colours and a wide range of products with fresh cuts.

"It's been great to make a sustainable, seasonal collection and increase Pure Waste's range," says our design team. The team's favourite products from the DROPS collection include Loose Fit T-shirt and Oversize Long Sleeve T-shirt. One of the absolute favourite products of the year, Pintuck pants are also among the team's darlings! An external test team was helping us, so even the smallest details could be refined. 

Finland's most responsible clothes

We won the second shared place and received an honourable mention in the fall in the Most Responsible Product in Finland -competition organised by Ostavastuullisesti.fi. The core of our operations has always been based on responsibility, so the recognition we received warmed our hearts.

Development work

Last year we participated in the Telavalue project. Telavalue is an umbrella project for several smaller projects, such as bringing a spinning mill to Finland, developing new business models and automation, and quality-related projects, such as improving fibres and yarns with various treatments.

It has always been part of our operating principles that waste must be recycled where it's generated. The spinning mill has been the missing link for bringing the production process of recycled textiles to Finland. The project aims to get a fine yarn spinning mill in Finland, which advances the start of recycled textile production in Finland.

Telavalue also promotes the design of new business models. Last year we piloted clothing lending. The pilot's goal was to inspire more ecological choices and challenge us, too, to a new way of thinking about ownership: does everyone need to own the contents of their wardrobe? The long-term goal of the pilot is to bring clothing lending to a business level. The pilot successfully acquired information for this purpose, and we received valuable information about the practical implementation of clothing loans.

In terms of research, next year is going to be interesting. We are getting new results from the Telavalue project. The EU Commission will announce new regulations to make the textile industry more responsible, such as measuring textiles' carbon footprint and lifespan. The regulations are a nudge for the industry in the right direction.

Recycling of post-consumer textiles in Finland

A separate collection of textiles starts in Finland at the beginning of next year. Waste plants collect and recycle post-consumer textiles and take them to the processing plant in Paimio. Some of the recycled textiles also end up in various tests at Rester, a company specialising in recycling businesses' textiles, in which we are partners.

Costo becomes a part of Pure Waste

Ten years ago, Pure Waste started through Costo when we needed 100% recycled fabric for Costo's headwear but couldn't find that anywhere. We implemented the long-term plan this year and merged the business operations when Pure Waste bought Costo. Both brands continue to operate as usual. Only the company's official name changed to Pure Waste Textiles.

We support Ukraine

The year also included challenges that the war in Ukraine indirectly caused for us as well. However, we know that the challenges we face are small compared to the worries that Ukrainians have had to go through in the past year.

It was important for us to bring our contribution from our field of operation and help Ukraine. We joined the #Counterstroke project, which aimed to support Ukraine with innovative means and reverse the meaning given to the letter Z by Russia. We produced a batch of T-shirts against the Z symbol. The profits from the shirts were donated to Ukraine.

The upcoming year

We await with curiosity what the coming year 2023 will bring. The unstable world situation poses challenges for the future. Still, we continue our mission of working towards a world without textile waste and developing our operations in responsible textile production. We hope to inspire everyone in the coming year to take steps in the same direction as us and choose responsibly.

Thank you for continuing to be part of the Pure Waste community in the future.