93% Lower Impact: The Tech Making Sustainable Fashion Competitive

Aug 28, 2025

Zahlen Titcomb and Kristen Albrecht, co-founders of Ravel, are transforming the fashion industry with their innovative recycling technology. They discuss how Ravel’s method reduces environmental impact by 93% while achieving price parity with traditional materials. The duo explains the challenges of textile waste, industry adoption, and the importance of maintaining material value in recycling processes. They highlight the significance of collaboration within the supply chain to drive sustainable practices and share their cautious optimism for the future of sustainable fashion.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

93% Lower Impact Per Unit

Ravel's product lifecycle analysis shows a 93% lower environmental impact per unit versus existing polyester.
That reduction suggests huge potential leverage against fashion's ~10% global emissions contribution.

INSIGHT

Performance, Impact, And Price Parity

Ravel's recycled polyester uses 59% less energy, cuts CO2 by 32%, and saves up to 90% of water versus virgin polyester.
Achieving near price parity makes sustainable materials practically adoptable at scale.

ANECDOTE

From Finance To Frisbee Apparel

Zahlen described building Five Ultimate after leaving finance to make better apparel for ultimate frisbee players.
That hands-on apparel experience revealed how little end-of-life planning existed for blended textiles.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

The fashion industry produces 97 million tons of waste each year, and is responsible for 10% of global emissions and 20% of freshwater pollution. If we care about our planet, we need to take a closer look at sustainable fashion, and that is where Ravel enters the picture.

In this episode of Hardware to Save a Planet, host Dylan Garrett welcomes Ravel cofounders Zahlen Titcomb and Kristen Albrecht to discuss their breakthrough textile recycling technology. By recycling polyester and blended fabrics with 59% less energy while matching the price of virgin materials, Ravel is proving that sustainability can scale. They share insights on market-driven solutions, industry adoption, and transforming one of the world’s most polluting industries.

What you will learn:

Why fashion's 97 million tons of waste and 10% of global emissions needs urgent innovation
How Ravel's recycling technology achieves 93% lower environmental impact
Reaching price parity to drive widespread adoption of sustainable materials
Why focusing on blended materials creates unique market advantages in recycling
How supply chain integration and practical demonstrations drive industry acceptance
Why successful climate solutions must work within existing market systems
Maintaining material value rather than destroying and rebuilding in recycling processes
Why collaboration with industry incumbents accelerates sustainable transformation

Zahlen Titcomb and Kristen Albrecht are the co-founders of Ravel, a pioneering company revolutionizing textile recycling through innovative polyester recycling technology. Zahlen brings extensive textile industry experience as the former co-founder of Five Ultimate, a leading ultimate Frisbee apparel brand, and BAM Boxers. Kristen's background in apparel supply chain design and sustainability, including running her own apparel company, provides crucial insights into industry challenges and solutions. Together, they've developed a groundbreaking non-destructive approach to recycling blended fiber materials that reduces energy consumption by 59%, CO2 emissions by 32%, and water usage by 90% compared to virgin polyester production.

Episode Resources:

Zahlen Titcomb on LinkedIn
Kristen Albrecht on LinkedIn
Ravel Website
Dylan Garrett on LinkedIn
Synapse Website
Hardware to Save a Planet Apple Podcasts
Hardware to Save a Planet Spotify

Hardware to Save a Planet is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so

If you are interested in sponsoring Hardware to Save a Planet, please see our sponsorship offer here.

Previous guests include: Peter Reinhardt of Charm Industrial, Carlos Araque of Quaise, Noah McQueen of Heirloom, Areeb Malik of Glacier, Jeff Satwicz of Bigbelly, Abe Schneider of Natel Energy, Insiya Jafferjee of Shellworks, Paul Gross of Remora, Erika Boeing of Accelerate Wind and Daniel Betts of Blue Frontier.

Check out our three most downloaded episodes:

If you have an interesting hardware solution to the climate crisis and would like the opportunity to share this with our audience, please complete this Guest Application form: https://fame.so/syn