ACT Featured in TexFash: Building a Model Designed for Africa

TexFash has published an interview with ACT founder Elmar Stroomer, exploring how textile recovery systems can be built in ways that work for Africa — rather than copying models from Europe.

In the interview, Elmar explains that ACT never wanted to “copy-paste a European collection and recycling model”, because the context in Kenya is completely different.

He also highlights the bigger question facing the industry:

Why is textile recycling so behind compared to paper and plastic?

Elmar describes how ACT was built around local realities — including the large volume of imported second-hand clothing in Kenya — and why recovery systems need to go beyond collecting wearable clothes.
He also speaks about ACT’s focus on design, material streams, and creating useful products from recovered textiles, such as carpets made from denim offcuts.