Ethical Fashion Group partners to turn waste into hydrogen energy

The partnership between Ethical Fashion Group, co-founded by British fashion industry veteran Harold Tillman CBE, and Hydrogen Utopia, will allow clothing manufacturers, suppliers and retailers to address the environmental impact of products made partly or wholly from non-recyclable plastics including polyester and polyamides.

The Ethical Fashion Group matches 60,000 fashion businesses in 140 countries with sustainable suppliers around the world. It joins Electron Thermal Processing and the leading global industrial gases and engineering company Linde plc as strategic partners of Hydrogen Utopia International.

The clothing industry is the biggest pollutant in the world after the oil and gas sector, producing an estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste every day, according to EFG. The majority of clothing is now made using refinery-derived products including polyester, polyamides or a combination of the two.

Aleksandra Binkowska, founder and chief executive of Hydrogen Utopia International, said: “It is a huge honour to win the support of Mr Harold Tillman for the work being carried out by HUI. Consumers are dressing themselves in plastic, often without knowing it, by buying over one trillion items of clothing a year that are destined to end up in incinerators or landfill sites. Our Fashion Pollution Solution will give manufacturers access for the first time to technology that turns these items into road-fuel quality hydrogen fuel that will power the next generation of carbon-free vehicles. As Seneca said “Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity” and this is why I believe Mr Tillman and HUI are a perfect match.”

Harold Tillman CBE is a former head of British fashion brands Jaeger and Aquascutum and the only person to have served two consecutive terms as chairman of the British Fashion Council. He was appointed CBE in 2010 for his services to the fashion industry.

He said: “The technology developed by Hydrogen Utopia means that, for the first time ever, the fashion industry can be part of the solution to the epidemic of plastic pollution facing the planet, rather than part of the problem.

“After a lifetime in the fashion industry, I am passionate about the urgent need for clothing manufacturers, suppliers and retailers to address the environmental damage they cause, and to embrace ethical and sustainable production. The Ethical Fashion Group helps them do this and this strategic partnership with HUI has the potential to transform the global clothing industry by tackling our addiction to plastic products.”