Circular economy: Pulvera launches traceable textile recycling
A prototype has been created by pulverising textile waste to give it new uses: it is called SILKI and is a chair developed in collaboration with Stardust Secured, an American company that manufactures optical tracers
Simply transforming waste into raw material is no longer enough; it is also necessary to be able to identify, verify and trace the origin of the new product. In an era of energy transition and the circular economy – but also of greenwashing – this is the path taken by Pulvera, a spin-off of the Brianza-based company Casati Flock & Fibers. This philosophy has taken shape in its latest ‘creation’, a prototype produced by pulverising textile waste to give it new applications: it is called SILKI and is a chair developed in collaboration with Stardust Secured, an American research and development company that produces invisible optical tracers which reinforce recycling certifications by making it possible to verify what a material claims to be, according to a press release.
SILKI was presented at the Intergraf Design Awards 2026 in Copenhagen and is made from a biodegradable compound enriched with silk powder, recovered from post-industrial textile waste and processed by Pulvera. Thanks to the collaboration with Stardust Secured – as explained – a microscopic optical tracer has been added to this material, allowing the presence and quantity of the recycled component in the final product to be verified even in the field, using dedicated portable instruments. The proof is therefore not confined to a document attached to the product, but is contained within the product or the material itself.
The importance for the fashion industry
Why might all this be important – as a model and as best practice – for large fashion or manufacturing groups? Simple: because nowadays it is no longer enough simply to claim that a material is recycled; you have to be able to prove it, and developments in European legislation – from the digital product passport to the fight against greenwashing – have made this issue increasingly urgent. SILKI could be a first step in the right direction, although the model will obviously need to be scaled up to suit larger organisations and production operations.
The origins of Pulvera: the spin-off
Pulvera is a spin-off of Casati Flock and Fibers, a family-run business founded in 1952 and now led by the fourth generation: the managing director is Beatrice, the daughter of Lorena Rossi Casati. It has a turnover of 6 million euros, an annual production of 900 tonnes of flock and 33 employees. Last year, it focused on recycling and energy and water savings, launching a €460,000 plan – 50 per cent co-funded by the Lombardy Region (under the Ri.Circo.Lo. call for proposals, which draws on the European Regional Development Fund) – to increase the recovery capacity for textile waste that had previously been untreatable, as well as to rethink the entire production process to reduce electricity and water consumption. And with the circular economy in mind, the spin-off Pulvera was launched last year, founded by CEO Beatrice Casati alongside her sister Eleonora, who is researching how to transform the flock obtained from offcuts into new materials. A laboratory to support companies grappling with their textile waste.
Pulvera manufactures its products by forging partnerships with international organisations. For example, with the Dutch firm Cooloo, which specialises in the development of circular technologies and materials: a partnership through which it has promoted the recovery of various types of textile waste, from cotton to wool, silk, linen, denim, leather, synthetic and blended fibres – transforming them into new raw materials in the form of powder to feed into new production chains. And now, in collaboration with the American company Stardust Secured, it has launched SILKI.
