How Used Clothing Can Become Sustainable Building Materials | KCI Industry Insights

The Secret Behind Extending the Life of Old Clothes by 100 Years

How Strong and Wise Material Tech Company Transforms Used Clothing into Sustainable Building Materials

Every year, more than 100 billion garments are produced worldwide. However, only 13% of discarded textile materials are recycled, and less than 1% are reused to manufacture new clothing. These figures were reported in the 2017 report A New Textiles Economy published by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Why are recycling and reuse rates for textile waste so low?

According to Lin Cheng-Hsiung, Founder of Strong and Wise Material Tech Company, one of the biggest challenges is that modern garments are often made from blended fabrics containing two or more different materials. Separating these mixed fibers is technically difficult and costly, making textile recycling a significant industry challenge.

“We wanted to solve the blended-fabric problem,” said Lin.

Instead of trying to separate different fibers, he approached the challenge from a completely different angle: What if the fabrics were never separated at all?

With no formal background in textiles, Lin developed an innovative technology that combines cotton-based textile waste with recycled plastics. The result was a durable and sustainable building material called FiberWood, created from discarded clothing and designed to last up to 100 years through multiple recycling cycles.

The innovation has attracted investment from the Order Furniture Group and has even been used in facilities related to the Winter Olympics.

An Entrepreneurial Journey Inspired by a News Story

Before launching Strong and Wise Material Tech Company, Lin worked at Academia Sinica, conducting neuroscience and cancer research.

Despite his scientific background, he had long been interested in textiles and environmental sustainability. He spent years studying textile recycling, served as an environmental volunteer with Tzu Chi for over 15 years, and even helped develop high-performance compression garments for burn patients through Da Ai Technology.

The idea for his business was sparked by a news report about Taiwan producing World Cup jerseys from recycled PET bottles.

“When I saw that story, I started asking questions,” Lin recalled.

“Those bottles became jerseys, but what happens after the tournament ends? Won’t those jerseys eventually be incinerated? Is there a way to keep these materials in circulation longer?”

Those questions eventually became the foundation of his business.

Lin realized that one major obstacle to textile circularity was the difficulty of separating blended fabrics.

Instead of separating them, he explored whether mixed textiles could be combined directly with recycled plastics to create entirely new materials.

After extensive self-study, countless experiments, and collaboration with manufacturing partners, the concept gradually became reality.

Building a Fabric Fingerprint Database to Accelerate Material Development

As a solo entrepreneur, Lin quickly encountered a major challenge: identifying and classifying thousands of different textile blends efficiently.

Traditionally, fabric identification often relied on burn tests or odor recognition, methods requiring years of experience.

To solve this problem, Lin developed a fabric identification system that utilizes AI and a database containing more than 8,000 fabric samples.

By analyzing the reflected light wavelengths of different textiles, the system creates a unique “fingerprint” for each material composition.

(The AI-powered fabric identification system developed by Strong and Wise Material Tech Company can identify textile compositions within seconds by analyzing reflected light wavelengths, helping accelerate sorting and material development. Source: Strong and Wise Material Tech Company)

With a quick scan, the system can determine the composition of blended textiles within seconds, significantly improving sorting efficiency and accelerating product development.

After numerous trials combining discarded textiles with recycled plastic pellets, Lin successfully developed the material he envisioned.

He named it FiberWood.

FiberWood is less expensive than traditional wood-based construction materials, highly resistant to heat and weather, and can last up to 20 years per lifecycle.

More importantly, it can be recycled and remolded up to five times, extending its potential lifespan to nearly 100 years.

“Fabric Is the Steel Reinforcement, Plastic Is the Concrete”

Why does combining different materials create such a strong product?

Lin explains that different materials contain molecular chains of varying lengths. Longer molecular chains generally provide greater strength.

By connecting the molecular structures of textile fibers and recycled plastics, the resulting composite material forms stronger and longer molecular chains.

“Fabric acts like steel reinforcement, while plastic functions like concrete,” Lin explained.

“This combination provides strength, flexibility, and durability.”

The technology behind these long-chain composite structures has become one of the company’s key competitive advantages.

(According to Lin, textile fibers serve as reinforcement while plastic acts as the binding material. The resulting FiberWood delivers exceptional strength and flexibility, with impact resistance up to ten times higher than standard building material requirements. Source: Photographer Hou Chun-Wei)

FiberWood successfully passed rigorous durability tests, including:

• Continuous steam exposure for three days and nights
• Hot-water immersion for three months

The material showed no deformation or swelling.

Unlike conventional wood-plastic composites that often absorb moisture, develop mold, or crack under sunlight exposure, FiberWood offers superior durability and weather resistance.

Its impact strength is reported to be ten times higher than standard building material requirements.

In addition, FiberWood can be thermally molded into different shapes, textures, and wood-grain patterns according to customer requirements, while remaining environmentally friendly and cost-effective.

Beyond construction applications, FiberWood can also be used to manufacture large-scale toys, sustainable furniture, and other consumer products.

Strong and Wise Material Tech Company also produces recycled PET (rPET) materials for garment accessories such as buttons and zippers, which can later be recycled again into FiberWood products, supporting a true circular economy.

Investment from Order Furniture Group Accelerates Growth

Today, Strong and Wise Material Tech Company operates primarily through project-based collaborations.

Its customers include:

• Hsinchu City Environmental Protection Bureau, which uses discarded clothing to create sustainable public fencing.
• Jiaoxi hot spring resorts, which recycle used bathrobes into seating products.
• Major fast-food chains that transform retired employee uniforms into store construction materials.

The company plans to expand internationally through technology licensing partnerships.

Strong and Wise Material Tech Company has also received investment from the Order Furniture Group, enabling the purchase and improvement of production equipment to support larger-scale manufacturing.

(Strong and Wise Material Tech Company partnered with Taiwan’s green furniture brand Order Furniture Group to install FiberWood flooring at a café rooftop in Linkou. The company also received investment from Order Furniture Group to expand manufacturing capabilities. Source: Strong and Wise Material Tech Company)

Although the company now possesses advanced equipment, it does not yet operate its own manufacturing facility.

“Our ultimate goal is to build our own factory and move toward fully professionalized production,” said Lin.

Many large furniture manufacturers have expressed strong interest in FiberWood, but often require suppliers to demonstrate stable production capacity before signing long-term contracts.

Building a dedicated production facility is therefore one of the company’s most important strategic objectives.

Looking ahead, Strong and Wise Material Tech Company plans to collaborate with more organizations, expand internationally, and bring both FiberWood and circular economy concepts to global markets.

Europe is expected to be the company’s next major destination.

Source: Social Enterprise Insights (SEinsights)