Zerow, the startup that eliminates waste from the fashion industry
The founders Gabriele Rorandelli and Alessio Troisi explain how their platform, through machine learning and BBlockchain, makes the circularity process more agile and transparent: “To date, less than 1% of production waste in this sector is recycled.”
Circularity, traceability, ecodesign: the fashion world is preparing for a revolution, driven by new European regulations and a new consumer awareness of the negative impact of fast fashion. If today between 25% and 40% of the fabrics used by industries around the world become waste (for insights), within a few years, large brands and small local producers will want to incorporate the theme of circularity into their product and business strategies and it is right now Zerow. The startup that participated in the Hubble acceleration program at the Innovation Center of Fondazione CR Firenze already answers the sustainability needs of more than a thousand customers.
Through its platform, Zerow allows you to sell and buy producers' leather and fabric waste to create new garments and accessories that, through the blockchain, have their own identity card that speaks of origin and sustainability in the name of the transparency of the supply chain.
The two founders Gabriele Rorandelli and Alessio Troisi met at a party in Naples, at the house of mutual friends, Zerow was thus born between chatter and toast, a project that convincingly puts the topic of recycling in the fashion sector in the spotlight: “To date, less than 1% of production waste is recycled, but the global value of Excess material in the warehouses of the fashion industry is estimated at about 120 billion euros — explains Rorandelli — in Italy alone, up to 750,000 tons of leather waste are produced every year (source ISPRA). We have designed a platform that connects suppliers and buyers to sell and recycle excess materials and waste and to measure and reduce the environmental impact of fashion manufacturers. Five years from now, Europe prohibits the destruction of redundant material and while on the one hand the problem of inventories hinders many companies, there is also a high demand for materials from big brands eager to increase their commitment to sustainability.”
Zerow offers a subscription service for the use of the platform that works through smart match, relating supply and demand through a machine learning algorithm, explains Troisi: “We are able to identify the specifications of the materials (color, thickness, lot size and more) that companies make available and to combine proposals with buyer profiles, who may be interested in buying and recycling the material. The smart match is the facilitating factor of the combination that makes use of a statistical component and a probabilistic component that aims to find an increasingly personalized offer.”
Zerow is based on blockchain technology to give traceability to the process, i.e. more information to the buyer who is most aware of what was traded, on what date, by whom, so that a supply chain, hitherto unknown, is brought to light. In our road map, there is also the possibility of providing brands with a supplier management service,” adds Rorandelli, who talks about another service offered to its customers: “We have also developed a tool that deals with measuring the company's environmental impact: the platform analyzes the business areas, in particular that of waste, and provides a percentage measure of how much its level of sustainability has risen by circulating its material. The more sustainable practices that have been adopted, the higher the percentage of reduction in environmental impact: a certification that is used to communicate the company's commitment to the environment and to obtain a competitive advantage.”
The startup moves in several directions, its founders explain: “Precisely because our goal of reducing the environmental impact of the supply chain, a distinctive element of the Zerow platform is that various machinery and production materials can also be sold here, everything that goes into production can be enhanced by finding a new destination within the supply chain.”
But in addition to offering a marketplace for all this material, Zerow is about to ground a consulting service to help companies interested in circularity to participate in European and national calls and obtain contributions to implement their sustainable practices.
