Waste to Capital.
recreategoods
(
Private sector
)
#SDGAction60364
Description
The fashion industry produces 10-40% overstock that never reaches consumers—unsold goods worth billions destined for incineration or landfills. This pre-consumer waste represents both massive environmental damage and lost economic value for brands struggling with deadstock inventory. Recreategoods serves fashion brands, manufacturers, and retailers through AI-powered industrial upcycling technology. Our AI Upcycling Design Agent transforms unsold deadstock into desirable new collections through generative design, enabling brands to convert waste inventory into profitable products. By integrating into existing design workflows, recreategoods makes industrial-scale upcycling economically viable—solving the fundamental barrier that has prevented circular fashion from scaling.
"We partner with fashion brands, textile manufacturers, design studios, retailers and diverse community across Europe and beyond seeking to eliminate pre-consumer waste while maintaining profitability and local production standards. Brands using recreategoods eliminate storage costs, reduce carrying expenses, avoid disposal fees, unlock working capital from deadstock, and create new revenue streams—all while meeting sustainability targets and regulatory requirements."
Fashion brands and manufacturers can integrate recreategoods' AI Upcycling Design Assistant into their design workflows:
• Inventory Assessment - Brands identify deadstock inventory (unsold products, excess materials, production overruns)
• AI Design Generation -the AI agent analyzes source material and generates upcycling design proposals
• Designer Collaboration - Brand designers review AI proposals and select designs for development
• Local Production Partnership - Recreategoods connects brands with local production partners for upcycling implementation
• New Collection Launch - Transformed products enter market as new collections with full traceability This process turns waste liability into design opportunity while maintaining brand aesthetic control and quality standards.
Pre-consumer waste represents fashion's most preventable environmental impact, yet industrial upcycling has historically been economically unviable at scale. Recreategoods' AI technology solves this through:
• Design Efficiency: AI rapidly generates multiple design options, reducing designer time from weeks to hours
• Cost Viability: By streamlining design iteration, we make upcycling cost-competitive with new production
• Local Manufacturing: Anchoring production locally creates skilled jobs and reduces transportation emissions
• Knowledge Transfer: We train brand design teams and production partners on AI-assisted upcycling methods
The average consumer lacks visibility into pre-consumer waste—the 10-40% of goods that never reach stores. Recreategoods makes addressing this hidden waste stream technologically accessible and economically rational for mainstream brands, not just luxury or niche players.
Recreategoods functions as a technology platform connecting three stakeholders:
• Brands with deadstock - Companies with unsold inventory seeking sustainable, profitable solutions
• Design innovation - AI technology that enables rapid, creative transformation of waste materials
• Local production partners - manufacturers capable of executing upcycled designs to quality standards This triangular coordination transforms deadstock from a disposal problem into a circular design system, keeping materials at their highest value use rather than downcycling or destruction.
Recreategoods is pioneering AI-powered upcycling in the industrial fashion waste space, enabling brands to transform unsold inventory into new revenue streams. Recognition and Validation:
• Supported by EXIST-Women Program (German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs)
• Member of Fashion Council Germany
• Featured by Humboldt Innovation Hub as circular economy innovator
• Based in Berlin, Europe's sustainable fashion innovation hub
• Supported by EXIST Program (German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs)
Network and Partnerships:
• Partner with Hochschule Niederrhein, Textilfabrik 7.0 Microfactory
• Collaboration with local production facilities across Berlin, Germany and Europe
• Part of Berlin's circular fashion ecosystem including circular.berlin
Technology Innovation:
• Proprietary AI Upcycling Design Agent
• Generative design algorithms trained on textile properties
• Integration capability with brand design workflows
• Traceability and documentation for circular economy compliance
Recreategoods collaborates with:
• Fashion Council Germany - Industry network and advocacy
• Humboldt Innovation Hub - Innovation ecosystem support
• EXIST-Women and EXIST-Program - Federal government backing for female-founded technology ventures
• Hasso-Plattner-Institute - Pilot projects
• Hochschule Niederrhein - Research collaboration on AI and textile innovation
• Berlin based, German, Polish and Italian manufacturer - Local manufacturing network for upcycling implementation
• FAN: Fashion act now
SDGS & Targets
Goal 9
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
9.1
9.1.1
Proportion of the rural population who live within 2 km of an all-season road
9.1.2
Passenger and freight volumes, by mode of transport
9.2
Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries
9.2.1
Manufacturing value added as a proportion of GDP and per capita
9.2.2
Manufacturing employment as a proportion of total employment
9.3
9.3.1
Proportion of small-scale industries in total industry value added, based on (a) international classification and (b) national classifications
9.3.2
Proportion of small-scale industries with a loan or line of credit
9.4
By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities
9.4.1
CO2 emission per unit of value added
9.5
9.5.1
Research and development expenditure as a proportion of GDP
9.5.2
Researchers (in full-time equivalent) per million inhabitants
9.a
9.a.1
Total official international support (official development assistance plus other official flows) to infrastructure
9.b
9.b.1
Proportion of medium and high-tech industry value added in total value added
9.c
Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020
9.c.1
Proportion of population covered by a mobile network, by technology
Goal 12
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
12.1
Implement the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries
12.1.1
Number of countries developing, adopting or implementing policy instruments aimed at supporting the shift to sustainable consumption and production
12.2
By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
12.2.1
Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP
12.2.2
Domestic material consumption, domestic material consumption per capita, and domestic material consumption per GDP
12.3
By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses
12.3.1
(a) Food loss index and (b) food waste index
12.4
By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment
12.4.1
12.4.2
(a) Hazardous waste generated per capita; and (b) proportion of hazardous waste treated, by type of treatment
12.5
By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse
12.5.1
National recycling rate, tons of material recycled
12.6
Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle
12.6.1
12.7
Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities
12.7.1
Number of countries implementing sustainable public procurement policies and action plans
12.8
By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature
12.8.1
Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment
12.a
Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production
12.a.1
Installed renewable energy-generating capacity in developing and developed countries (in watts per capita)
12.b
Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products
12.b.1
Implementation of standard accounting tools to monitor the economic and environmental aspects of tourism sustainability
12.c
Rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions, in accordance with national circumstances, including by restructuring taxation and phasing out those harmful subsidies, where they exist, to reflect their environmental impacts, taking fully into account the specific needs and conditions of developing countries and minimizing the possible adverse impacts on their development in a manner that protects the poor and the affected communities
12.c.1
Amount of fossil-fuel subsidies (production and consumption) per unit of GDP
Goal 13
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
13.1
Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
13.1.1
Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
13.1.2
Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030
13.1.3
Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
13.2
Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning
13.2.1
Number of countries with nationally determined contributions, long-term strategies, national adaptation plans and adaptation communications, as reported to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
13.2.2
Total greenhouse gas emissions per year
13.3
Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
13.3.1
Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment
13.a
Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible
13.a.1
Amounts provided and mobilized in United States dollars per year in relation to the continued existing collective mobilization goal of the $100 billion commitment through to 2025
13.b
Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities
13.b.1
Number of least developed countries and small island developing States with nationally determined contributions, long-term strategies, national adaptation plans and adaptation communications, as reported to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
SDG 14 targets covered
| Name | Description |
|---|
Deliverables & Timeline
Tool to fasciliate the use of unsold goods
Upcycling as an industry habit
Resources mobilized
Partnership Progress
Feedback
Action Network
Share
Timeline
Entity
Region
- Europe
Geographical coverage
Other beneficiaries
There are mainly 3 levels of benefit in that approach:
-Companies (brands, retailers: designers, sustainability managers, purchase/sourcing managers, product managers) save time and cost.
-Europes textile industry experienced a strong decline the past 20 years. By cooperating with all the diverse SME and even Microenterprises, recreategoods will bring in business for those companies and obtain the sovereignity of European textile industry. Knowledge from global south about upcycling is crucial to the needed intelligence. Furthermore north african industry is nearshore partner for lots of european players in the south. That is why we work on exchange to spread the benefit.
-On a global level the decoupling of growth from material extraction will save 90% of Energy.
More information
Countries
Contact Information
Stephanie Pupke-Bertram , Mrs.