Innovate UK Textile Waste R&D
Yodomo's project with Innovate UK's Transformative Technologies grant researched processes to divert preconsumer textiles from landfill and incineration.
In 2023, Yodomo was funded for the project entitled ‘Designing a Textile Waste Service to Increase the Reuse of Materials through Textile Identification Technology and Improved Systems’. Supported by Innovate UK / UKRI’s Transformative Technologies grant, we have since worked widely with the UK industry, introducing innovative textile identification technology from Matoha Science. This technology is a infrared sensor device developed at Imperial College, London.
The grant supported the development of our circular economy solution to commercial textile waste in the interior design industry. We worked with businesses and creative communities to prevent textiles from becoming prematurely downgraded by shredding, sent to landfill or for incineration. This helps reduce the UK’s carbon footprint whilst supporting creative microbusinesses with free or low-cost materials to provide a truly circular solution to the urgent issue of textile waste in the interior design sector.
The Innovate UK award supported us in continuing to put reuse at the top of the list for textile waste options and design a solution for textile waste in the interior design industry. This has been welcomed equally by the sector that needs an urgent reuse channel for professional textile waste.
The innovative commercial textile waste service met the demand of businesses looking to better report on where their waste ends up, whilst ensuring materials stay at their highest value within the economic system for as long as possible.