Catalyzing textile waste into high-value, circular materials
Textile recycling for a cleaner tomorrow
The problem
A $150 billion waste crisis with no solution at scale
120M
tonnes of textile waste every year
~15%
of it recycled today
85%
blended, coated or contaminated
8–10%
of global CO₂, more than aviation
Source: BCG 2025 · UNEP 2018
Why it stays there
The waste is already here, and nobody can process it
- Unrecyclable by design 85% of it is blended, coated and contaminated, so it is landfilled or burned.
- A growing liability Brands now carry the cost of end-of-life waste.
- Carbon intensity 8–10% of global CO₂ comes from textiles, more than aviation.
The broken loop
The chain has no way back to the start
Production is fragmented across the world, so materials are hard to track, and valuable waste streams go uncaptured.
- Multi-material by default Blends, dyes and mixed waste defeat conventional recycling.
- Accountability is arriving New mandates make producers own what they put on the market.
The gap
The infrastructure to solve this does not exist
Chemical recyclers
- Need pre-sorted, clean feedstock
- $400M+ CapEx for one centralized facility
- The economics fail without heavy subsidies
Mechanical recyclers & downcyclers
- Limited to clean cotton or pure polyester
- Blended, coated or contaminated waste defeats them
- Output quality degrades with every cycle
Everything that exists today is slow, feedstock-limited and 10x+ more expensive than landfilling.
The solution
We turn complex textile waste into high-value materials
A containerised, plug-and-play unit that ships to the waste, strips out PFAS and microplastics, and converts over 90% of what it takes in.
Input
Mixed textile waste: unsorted, blended, dyed
90%+
conversion rate
The technology
Thermal chemical conversion, built for real textile waste
Mechanical recycling shreds. Chemical recycling dissolves. Enzymatic recycling digests. All three need clean, sorted feedstock, which is why 85% of the world’s textile waste has nowhere to go.
LOOM converts it thermochemically instead, inside a container that ships to the waste, rather than the other way round.
Validation
The science is proven and validated
Third-party verified at RTI International.
- Mass balance closure 96–100%, with no redesign needed.
- Product yields ~20% above initial assumptions.
- Hydrocarbon oil Stable composition over repeated runs, refinable into polyester-grade fractions.
Facilities
Access to leading technologies
Fixed and fluidized bed reactors, hydrotreaters, microreactors, spray dryers, extruders and CO₂ capture prototypes.
Analytical suites feature SEM, XRD, XRF, 300/500 MHz NMR, GC-MS, LC-MS, ICP-MS, TGA-MS and microscopy platforms.
Reactor bay
Fixed and fluidized bed reactors behind glass, run continuously under instrumentation.
Pilot site
The RTI campus in Research Triangle Park, where the LOOM process is run and verified.
Process rig
Hydrotreaters, microreactors and CO₂ capture prototypes, plumbed for continuous runs.
Analytical suite
SEM, XRD, XRF, 300/500 MHz NMR, GC-MS, LC-MS, ICP-MS and TGA-MS.
On site
LOOM engineers embedded with the RTI process team through every run.
The finished products
Nothing leaves the unit as waste
Oil, carbon and gas. Two are sold into existing markets; the third is used for energy.
01
LOOM Oil
Condensed from the vapours the textiles release as they break down in the reactor.
A high-calorific hydrocarbon oil of stable composition, supplied into chemical manufacturing and energy systems.
02
Solid Carbon
The solid fraction that stays in the reactor once the vapours are drawn off.
Dyes, pigments, rubber, plastics and textile additives. Blended into cement, a permanent carbon sink.
03
Syngas
The light gases that do not condense into oil, captured at the end of the process.
Fed back into the reactor as fuel, a self-sustaining energy loop that powers the unit.
Demand
“What stands out about LOOM is that it finally meets the problem at full scale.”
Backed by science & ecosystem partners
Partner marks shown with permission. Links open each partner’s own site.
The team
Industry veterans and serial entrepreneurs
Henry Maillet
Chief Executive Officer
CEO of Multipeak Global, with 15+ years commercializing deep tech and leading ESG strategy.
Dr Tich Munyikwa
Chief Technology Officer
25+ years in innovation and sustainable technologies; senior roles at Monsanto, Syngenta and Yield10.
Cole Harrison
Founder, CBDO
Project development and commercial construction execution, managing large teams and multi-million dollar contracts.
Kimberly Landry
Principal Strategic Advisor
35+ years in manufacturing, biotech and sustainability. Raised $150M+, founded Pebble Labs and Trait Biosciences.
Andre Bilbao
Strategic Investor
Senior Vice President at Lidl & Kaufland Asia (Singapore) with 20+ years of executive leadership in end-to-end sourcing and procurement. Proven track record managing portfolios across key retail sectors in Apparel, Hardlines and Food & Near Food.
Impact
Decarbonizing the textile industry, profitably and at scale.
In the next five years, our goal is to cumulatively achieve
1.8B
garments removed from the ecosystem
450,000
tonnes of textile waste diverted from landfill
225,000
tonnes of CO₂ avoided emissions
Contact
Join us on our journey.
LOOM Carbon is working with brands, waste operators and manufacturers to place the first commercial units at the source of waste.