Yesterday, eBay Australia, in collaboration with the Australian Fashion Council (AFC), proudly announced Dempstah as the recipient of eBay’s 2024 Circular Fashion Fund, marking a significant stride in advancing circular fashion in Australia.

With every Australian buying 56 items of new clothing a year and throwing away 200,000 tonnes into landfill each year, eBay’s Circular Fashion Fund was established to help scale and develop the circular fashion economy by supporting innovation and aligning with the fashion industry’s goals to achieve circularity by 2030.

Dempstah, an innovative business, has been awarded the prestigious prize fund of $100,000 AUD. Additionally, the runners-up, RCYCL and The Very Good Bra, have each received $50,000 AUD to bolster their circular business solutions.

Guy Dempster, Founder of Dempstah, said “We’re grateful to eBay and the Australian Fashion Council, who are actively investing and driving circularity in the fashion industry. The Fund will go towards establishing a micro mill in North West Tasmania, which will allow us to house and operate fibre recovery machinery and develop greater insight into this milling process. We’re thankful for the opportunity to find more mentors with experience in small-medium scale industrial domestic manufacturing.”

Speaking at yesterday's event, held in collaboration with the AFC, the Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP delivered a compelling speech, emphasising the significance of circularity, urging for prioritisation of reuse, recycling, and repair over disposal methods such as burying and burning. She called upon the industry to elevate their commitment and emphasised the imperative for companies to take responsibility for their products throughout their lifecycle, extending beyond the point of sale.

Marianne Perkovic, Chair of the AFC Board, said “It’s incredibly inspiring to see the creativity and innovation across 2024 eBay Circular Fashion Fund Finalists. Along with government support and industry collaboration, programs like this are essential to expedite our efforts towards our goal of a circular economy by 2030 and net zero by 2050.”

About the Winners:

• Dempstah: Dempstah recycles Australian textile waste into spun yarn in collaboration with a network of international and local textile mills. Their mission is to ensure waste traceability and establish fibre recovery facilities locally in Australia by establishing a mill in North West Tasmania, becoming the first textile to textile recycling facility in Australia.
• RCYCL: After experiencing the tragic bushfires of 2019/20, Belinda Paul founded RCYCL, because she wanted to do something to overcome the daunting thoughts of global warming and world pollution. RCYCL offers a hassle-free solution for direct-to-consumer clothing recycling. With a simple 3-step process, you can easily recycle your unwanted clothes.
• The Very Good Bra: After going through breast cancer treatment and struggling to find good wire-free bras, Stephanie Devine, Founder of The Very Good Bra, was determined to create a plastic-free bra. This led to her creating The Very Good Bra, the brand behind the world's first 100% compostable botanically circular bra that breaks down in three to six months in compost or eight weeks in a worm farm.
  

In addition to the funding received, the three recipients will enter into a three-month program of mentoring, networking and workshops to learn how to market and scale their business.

Congratulations to the 2024 winners and stay tuned for the announcement of the 2025 eBay Circular Fashion Fund