GUY DEMPSTER AND OTIS NG – DEMPSTAH
Small Business + Community
Sydney, NSW
Dempstah is recycling Australian textile waste into spun yarn for makers and crafters, as well as for the commercial manufacture of new apparel, homewares and accessories. Our method of textile recycling does not require any water, dye, detergent, bleach or liquid chemicals, making it one of the most resource-light methods of textile creation across the board.
Our vision is to develop our own capacities to recycle Australian textile waste domestically, and after several years of working with international recycling and manufacturing partners, we’re now preparing to build our own textile recycling micro-mill in North West Tasmania. This micro-mill would offer textile recycling services to both the general public and to industry, collaborating with spinning and weaving mills, knitwear and cut-and-sew manufacturers to create a range of recycled textile products for our own brand and for the companies whose waste we recycle.
Our current collection includes yarn spun with fibres recycled from fabric scraps and offcuts, supplied by sustainable fashion labels Citizen Wolf and High Tea with Mrs Woo. Our most recent yarn range marked our first attempt at recycling post-consumer apparel – fibres were recycled from old, unsellable donations of clothing supplied by Salvos Stores across Sydney. For this project, we received an Environmental Performance Innovation grant from the City of Sydney.
We currently sell our yarns through our own webstore and through several independent craft boutiques in Sydney, regional NSW, Melbourne, ACT and Tasmania. Our approach advocates for circular production and consumption practices, with a focus on recycling only natural, bio–degradable fibres over synthetics. We seek to offer a solution to Australia’s current, woefully inadequate management of textile waste, which see the huge majority of discarded textiles either sent to landfill or dumped on developing countries.
