Samsara Eco has expanded its Nylon Materials Collective—an industry collaboration launched last year with the European Outdoor Group (OEG).
The idea, per the partners, was to make it easier for brands—size aside—to adopt circular nylon. For the collective, that’s through efforts such as pooled volumes, networks of supply chain partners and material due diligence.
“Collaboration across the value chain is critical to scaling circularity,” said Paul Riley, founder and chief executive officer of Samsara Eco. “Material performance remains non-negotiable.”
The Australian enviro-tech startup is bringing the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) into the initiative alongside brands like Burton, Black Diamond Equipment, Red Wing Shoe Company, Big Agnes and W. L. Gore & Associates. The initiative now extends to another 100-plus brands participating in the association’s Climate Action Corps and Clean Chemistry & Materials Coalition programs.
“By bringing together industry leaders, associations and supply chain partners, we’re building the infrastructure needed to make circular materials the default, without asking brands to make compromises,” Riley said. “[These] are names synonymous with technical excellence, performance and innovation; their involvement reinforces that circular materials are the way forward.”
The addition of OIA also expands the collective’s footprint in North America, complementing Samsara Eco’s existing relationship with the EOG as brands contend with growing pressure around chemical transparency, traceability and recycled-material stewardship.
“Sustainability is a catalyst for strengthening the outdoor industry, and collaboration is how we scale that impact,” said Julie Brown, OIA’s senior director of industry engagement and impact. “By joining the Nylon Materials Collective, we are helping our members reduce environmental impact, navigate evolving regulations, and accelerate the shift to circular materials without compromising performance.”
Both the EOG and Gore pointed to collaboration and material innovation as central to scaling circularity efforts across the industry.
Nylon remains a key material across outdoor apparel and equipment because of its durability and technical performance, even as brands face increasing scrutiny over the environmental impact tied to material production.
Samsara Eco
“We are pleased to see the continued expansion of the Nylon Materials Collective and the growing commitment from industry partners worldwide,” said Dr. Katy Stevens, the EOG’s head of ESG. “By opening up access to circular materials for smaller organizations alongside global brands, this initiative demonstrates how collaboration can help scale practical solutions and accelerate progress toward circularity.”
Christian Mayer, international product specialist at Gore Fabrics, said the company sees “chemical and enzymatic recycling as a viable technology to increase global supply of textile-to-textile material,” adding that participation in initiatives like the collective supports “dialogue and shared learning around materials management.”
The announcement follows Samsara Eco’s recent 10-year partnership with athleisure brand LSKD and comes ahead of the EOG’s Outdoor Impact Summit in Riva del Garda, Italy, later this week.
For more background, Samsara Eco filed for its foundational patent regarding polyester recycling around September 2021. The patent covers the use of engineered enzymes to break down polymers into monomers.
By August 2022, the company’s subsequent international applications detailed a process for breaking down high-performance nylon and polyester polymer blends into new fibers. Around the same time, Samsara—then boasting the tagline “infinite plastic recycling” at the time—raised a Series A funding round worth $56 million Australian dollars (roughly $37 million), with investors including Woolworths Group.
By the following spring, the concept will have attracted additional interest from the likes of Lululemon.
While details from the Canadian yoga-pant purveyor’s minority investment into Samsara Eco weren’t disclosed, Lululemon became Samsara’s first equity apparel partner in May 2023. Their resulting multi-year partnership—targeting nylon 6,6 and polyester blends—yielded EosEco: the brand name created to signify its patented enzymatic recycling technology as it moved from laboratory research toward global commercialization.
While Samsara’s original research focused on basic enzyme discovery, EosEco relies on AI-crafted enzymes to break down mixed plastics into recycled raw materials.
Think of it as the commercial-grade evolution of Samsara’s early breakthroughs in enzyme-based polymer degradation—what attracted Lululemon in the first place.
