Sustainable innovations have come to the fore in textile industry. A new technology that converts waste cotton into a raw material that can then be used to produce new textiles has been developed. This has won s won the largest slice of a $1.1 million grant backed by Swedish fashion giant H&M. The first Global Change Award from non-profit H&M Conscious Foundation is aimed at encouraging pioneering ideas on closing the loop in fashion.

Other projects that won include a polyester digester that uses microbes to recycle waste polyester textiles; an online marketplace for textile leftovers; an initiative to create new textiles out of by-products from citrus juice production; and a scheme that uses algae to grow textile fibers under water.

One technology uses an environmentally-friendly solvent to dissolve the cotton in textile waste – which can then be spun into new cotton-like fibers. This not only reduces landfill waste but also saves natural resources.

A new type of microbe breaks down waste polyester into its most basic substances, which can then be sold to polyester manufacturers to produce new textiles. Polyester is the world’s most common fiber for making textiles and clothes but is difficult to recycle since it is often mixed with other fibers. The new microbe process would work on textiles where polyester and cotton are mixed as well as dyed polyester.

Growing textile fiber under water also involves researching a new textile raw material derived from marine algae. One of its strengths would be to eliminate the need to transport textiles as production could be based at coastal regions around the globe. Winners of the Global Change Award will also get help to develop their ideas over the next year from H&M Conscious Foundation, Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden