Upcycle Labs was formed in September 2021 after PDS Limited (previously PDS Multinational Fashions Ltd) acquired a 50 per cent stake in Filkor Limited, a UK-based entity, with an investment of £500,000 through its subsidiary company Smart Notch Industrial Limited.

“Upcycle Labs has been formed in England to produce new products, i.e., shop fittings retail items made from the waste of the fashion world. Upcycle turns securely destroyed fashion waste 100 per cent back into reusable products, i.e., zero waste. We call this the Filkor process,” Upcycle Labs director Barry Kane told Fibre2Fashion in a statement.

Filkor is a revolutionary product destruction process that allows for high-end fashion houses to transform their waste and surplus stocks into a granulate that is then upcycled 100 per cent into a variety of further uses i.e., brick slips, shop fittings, and other artistic and functional objects, Kane added.

The global apparel industry annually produces massive levels of waste from the disposal of its excess stock, which amounts to apparel and accessories worth tens of millions of pounds. These huge waste levels go on to significantly contribute to environmental problems such as landfills, wastewater and global greenhouse gas emissions. The Filkor automated repurposing system, by using patented collection and processing methods, produces and utilises the resultant waste to create a brand-new substrate that can be used in a wide range of global industries. “This repurposing system enables the product to be securely destroyed in one single operation, effectively and quickly, providing fashion houses with a socially and environmentally acceptable solution,” according to Upcycle Labs.

“We are now looking forward to taking this amazing Filkor process globally across the fashion world,” added Kane, who is also the inventor of the Filkor process.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RKS)