🇫🇮 Pure Waste – making the world better, one garment at a time
Pure Waste literally started by chance when a group of friends who had recently graduated decided to start a company. Only then did they begin to consider what the business model of the new company could be.
“When we founded our first company, Costo, in 2006, we initially only had a limited liability company and a bunch of sewing machines, with hardly any business plan”, recalls Anders Bengs, founder of Pure Waste.
Costo focused on ecological accessories made from surplus fabrics. Soon, the founders began to consider producing their own fabrics as ecologically as possible. After researching the matter, they realized that there was demand for fabrics made from recycled materials outside of their own clothing production.
“Pure Waste was practically born out of our own need. We switched the end product when we noticed a market niche. At that time, there wasn’t really anything like this available; we were ahead of our time”, Bengs explains.
Pure Waste uses cutting waste from the textile industry as raw material, which is processed back into fibers and yarns. In industrial production, up to 40 percent of the fabric can end up as cutting waste. The recycling process significantly reduces waste and promotes sustainable production methods.
Significant impact on sustainability in India
Pure Waste has undertaken several projects with Business Finland and received support for product development and internationalization. Bengs praises Business Finland’s proactivity in suggesting projects.
“We have received support for product development, internationalization, trade fair participation, and investment applications, among other things. We have had a good contact person at Business Finland who has kept us updated on new collaboration opportunities”, says Bengs.
“Our job is to help the company find the most suitable channels for developing its product and expanding its business”, says Mauri Marjaniemi, Pure Waste’s Account Manager at Business Finland.
Pure Waste’s production chain collects and sorts cutting waste from the textile industry at the source in India. The company has had a major impact on the development of India’s recycling industry. When they started collaborating with an Indian spinning mill, the start was not without friction.
“They were initially reluctant but eventually agreed to produce yarns from recycled fibers. This spinning mill is now one of the largest in India and employs over 3,000 people. They have thanked us many times since”, Bengs recalls.
Related to India, Pure Waste has received complementary top-up funding to a Business Finland funded R&D project in the framework of Developing Markets Platform. Business Finland also has an office in India.
Few Finnish companies have made such a significant mark on the business landscape of a country as large as India. Today, there are 15-20 companies in India that spin yarns from recycled fibers.
Developing Markets Platform for emerging and developing markets
Pure Waste was initially founded to produce materials, but today the company manufactures clothing from fabrics made from its own recycled fibers and sells them to both retailers and consumers.
“Manufacturing ready-made garments is an easier way to reach consumers and build a brand than to stay just a background producer of recycled fabrics”, says Bengs.
Over the years, the clothing industry has almost completely disappeared from Europe, so Pure Waste had to source recycled material from far outside Europe, from developing markets. In addition to India, Pure Waste sought partners in countries like China and Bangladesh.
“If we wanted to manufacture fabrics in Finland, we would have to use used clothes as raw material. However, that is not yet possible in terms of quality, so we focus on raw materials generated in the industry”, says Bengs.
Business Finland’s Developing Markets Platform fits excellently to Pure Waste’s needs. It helps Finnish companies and their partners develop sustainable and innovative business in growing developing markets. Developing Markets Platform is a joint endeavour of Business Finland and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (MFA), and the top-up funding provided has derived from the official development assistance by the MFA.
“Innovative solutions developed with the top-up funding in collaboration with local partners can bring about positive development impacts, for example, in terms of  environment, social development, quality, costs, or equality – and, in this way, contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals”, says Kiira Kärkkäinen, responsible for Developing Markets Platform at Business Finland.
Focus on sustainability
Pure Waste is constantly striving to find new ways to improve sustainability of the fashion industry.
“Sustainability is at the core of the brand’s DNA, not just a business term. We are continuously working to improve the quality of our products and extend their lifespan, as that is also important from a sustainability perspective”, says Bengs.
Pure Waste’s future plans include utilizing digitalization and artificial intelligence to enhance operations and develop new solutions.
“We are also involved in developing a digital product passport to increase transparency in the production process. The product passport includes a QR code that allows consumers to access information about the product’s raw materials, production process, and usage”, Bengs adds.
In addition to transparency in the production process, Bengs wants to further the development of the clothing industry with a quality standard that would be similar to the CE marking required for electrical appliances.
“In the clothing industry, there are currently no markings on products that inform consumers how many washes a garment should withstand or how long it will generally remain in good condition and usable. Why is data only available up to the point when the garment ends up in the shopping cart, but from then on, the consumer has to figure it out on their own?” Bengs ponders.
The top-up funding model of Developing Markets Platform was revised at the beginning of 2025. Similar top-up funding linked to R&D-funding by Business Finland and deriving from the official development assistance by the MFA can now be applied from Finnpartnership. Read more.
Originally published on 22 January by Business Finland.
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