Ravel: Unlocking Circularity in Fashion through Purification Recycling
The fashion industry generates millions of tonnes of textile waste each year, much of which ends up in landfills or incinerators. This isn’t just an environmental crisis, it’s an economic and societal failure. Ravel, the textile recycling pioneer, is tackling this systemic problem at the root.
Founded by Zahlen Titcomb, Ravel is rethinking textile recycling one fiber at a time. Their proprietary process addresses two of the toughest challenges in the industry: the effective recycling of blended textile materials and the need for manufacturers to use price-competitive, low-impact raw materials. We sat down with Zahlen to explore the opportunities in this space and why Ravel is poised to lead the charge toward a truly circular textile economy.
What are the biggest misconceptions about textile recycling today?
The biggest misconception is that the current recycling methods—like PET bottle downcycling or mechanical recycling—are enough to address the industry’s waste problem. These methods are linear, not circular. They don’t close the loop, and they don’t work for blended materials, which make up a huge portion of textile waste today.
At Ravel, we focus on purification recycling because it unlocks true circularity. By removing dyes, contaminants, and other impurities, we can create high-purity textile-derived PET (rPET) that can be reintroduced into the same products it came from. This is different from depolymerization or mechanical downcycling, which reduce quality or require additional resources to process.
Where are the most significant opportunities in textile recycling?
The most exciting opportunity is in blended materials, like poly-elastane, for example. These are some of the hardest textiles to recycle today, but they make up a massive amount of the waste generated by the fashion industry.
By solving this challenge, we’re not just creating a new supply chain for sustainable materials, we’re also helping brands meet their ambitious sustainability goals and regulatory demands. Our process is closed-loop, low-carbon, and cost-competitive, which removes the barriers to adoption.
What drives you as a founder to tackle these challenges?
I spent nearly a decade building and running an apparel supply chain based out of Beijing. I saw firsthand how linear processes dominate the industry, generating waste without accountability.
The massive bottom of the waste pyramid is being ignored, and the solutions aren’t moving fast enough. That’s why we created purification recycling: to provide a path forward that’s economic, environmental, and scalable.
This or That…
Hardware-first or Software-first? Hardware-first, but with a strong materials science foundation! Agnostic fundamental design principles governing market based solutions.
Cats or Dogs? Dogs
East Coast or West Coast? West Coast for innovation, East Coast for partnerships, EU for regulatory leadership, whole wide world for scale!
Favorite recent book? Radical Wholeness by Philip Shepherd
Favorite quote or mantra? “It doesn’t get any easier, but it does get more fun.”
Why Shared Future Fund believes in Ravel
Ravel represents exactly the kind of innovation we need to solve the climate crisis. Their closed-loop purification recycling process not only addresses the massive challenge of blended textile waste but also sets a new standard for what’s possible in sustainable materials.
By investing in Ravel, we’re investing in a future where the fashion industry doesn’t just reduce its footprint but actively regenerates resources. With strong partnerships, a clear path to commercialization, and a passionate team led by Zahlen Titcomb, Ravel is unlocking circularity at a scale we’ve never seen before.
We’re excited to be part of their journey—and we can’t wait to see the impact they’ll make.
For more information, visit RavelFuture.com.