Re-Fresh Global

Re-Fresh Global is a female-founded Israeli-German startup that converts textile waste into raw materials, such as nano-cellulose (Re-Nano), ethanol (Re-Thanol), and sanitized textile pulp (Re-Sanpulp).

The company's “Smart Textile Waste Upcycling Microfactories” sort textile waste by composition and color through an automated process that is said to be 97% accurate. Its patented technology then converts the sorted waste into shredded textile fibers, which are then processed into the company's products.  The company claims to convert any type of textile waste into new raw materials, reducing up to 97% of CO2 emissions and 150,000 liters of water per ton of raw pulp.

The company's patented solution, Re-Nano, can be used for plastic-free packaging, manufacturing lightweight tubular structures, such as bicycle frames, replacing rubber in sneaker soles, and hybrid-printed electronics. Re-Thanol made primarily from hospital sheets and other discarded textiles can be used to make hand sanitizers and fragrances, while Re-SanPulp can be used to make car interiors.

Key customers and partnerships

Re-Nano is used by Infinya Packaging (formerly Carmel Frenkel), a leading packager in Israel. As of August 2023, the company was developing a pilot with MEAVO, a London-based manufacturer of office phone booths, to produce recycled interiors for office phone booths. As of January 2022, the company has recycled about 15 tons of textile waste through pilot projects.

Funding and financials

In July 2023, the company raised EUR 1.1 million (~USD 1.5 million) in a pre-seed funding round to strengthen its R&D activities, optimize its recycling process, increase its textile waste-processing capacity, improve its marketing and sales efforts to reach more customers, and establish new partnerships.