Alina Bassi
Co-Founder and CEO
Kleiderly
Applied in the category: Sustainability
With which digital project do you want to apply in this category?
With Kleiderly, we have developed a patent-pending process to recycle textile waste into a plastic alternative, solving two environmental problems at once. 87% of textiles end up in landfill for over 200 years, or get incinerated. Kleiderly solves this by diverting textiles and transforming them to replace plastics derived from crude oil, saving 2.5kg of CO2e- for every kilogram of plastic. The material can be used seamlessly in existing machinery, to produce anything from clothing hangers, to furniture, to eyewear, now available to pre-order online. Kleiderly’s mission is to create a circular fashion industry and give textile waste a new life.
How does digitization shape your career?
Digitalisation is important for my career, as a Chemical Engineer and now Entrepreneur. Without it, growing our business during the year of COVID would have been near to impossible. Thanks to digitalisation, we were able to connect with multiple stakeholders all over the world, build the worlds first eyewear collection from recycled textiles, and now offer these online to customers all over Europe.
What makes you a digital female leader?
I am the co-founder of two companies, one focused on using my engineering knowledge to recycle textiles into plastics, and the other focused on supporting women of colour to raise investment. I would like to show the younger generation, that it is possible to move to Germany being an Indian woman, and still be successful as a Chemical Engineer, and sustainability and social entrepreneur.
What does leadership mean to you?
The chance to make a difference.
