Driven by passion: Alina Bassi became an impact entrepreneur; solving an issue

About Alina Bassi:

Meet Alina Bassi, the founder and CEO of Kleiderly. She was born and grew up in the UK. She has always been passionate about sustainability from an early age, and even she created a film about climate change for a school project when she was 14 years old. She achieved her Master's degree in chemical engineering.

How she became curious about sustainability?

When Alina was 14 years old, her mother assigned her the task of reading the encyclopedia during the summer holiday. During this time, she discovered the concepts of climate change and sustainability. She was surprised to realize that our planet was in trouble, and she wondered why more people weren't doing something about it. 

She realised that there was an urgent need to take action against this. This pivotal moment sparked her determination to address climate change and pursue her passion for sustainability, marking the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey at just 14 years old.

Her entrepreneurial journey started:

Alina was always determined to make a difference in the fight against climate change, but she wasn't sure how to begin. Her mother played a crucial role in helping her find the right entrepreneurial path. Understanding her daughter's passion for sustainability, Alina's mother guided her towards pursuing a degree in chemical engineering.

This field aligned perfectly with Alina's desire to contribute to sustainability efforts. Through her mother's guidance, Alina completed her studies in chemical engineering, driven by a passion to work in the sustainability sector. Soon, she got a job. However, after sometimes, she left her well-paying job.

Why Alina left her job?

After completing her master's degree, Alina began her professional career in the offshore oil and gas industry as a consultant specialising in FPSOs (floating platforms that extract and process oil and gas). However, she wanted to work in sustainability, and soon her passion for sustainability led her to transition to a role focused on recycling household waste, including coffee waste.

These diverse experiences provided her valuable insights into waste management and the circular economy. Driven by a deeper commitment to her sustainability mission, she finally found her path in entrepreneurship. One day she noticed a big problem, and she became surprised at why people were not trying to address it. Finally, she decided to resolve that particular issue. Eventually, pursuing her passion and addressing this problem, Alina decided to leave her well-paying job.

What was the issue?

One day, during a trip through Tanzania, Alina saw an overwhelming amount of waste, much of it originating from Western countries and ending up in Eastern Africa. Alina, as a dedicated advocate for sustainability, couldn’t see this textile waste, so she started researching more about it. This experience motivated her to delve deeper into the issue.

Her research revealed staggering statistics: globally, 100 billion garments are producedevery single year, with 87% of textiles used for clothing eventually ending up in landfills where they can take over 200 years to decompose or being incinerated, releasing carcinogenic heavy metals into the air, and all the processes are contributing to pollution. In Europe alone, each person produces approximately 5.5 kg of textile waste annually. She was surprised by all of the research!

What inspired her to start Kleiderly?

She says, “If plastic usage is not limited, there will be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050.”

After all the research, she started thinking, "What can be done about this issue?" She came to realize that unwanted textiles are either incinerated once they're no longer usable or simply dumped into large landfills with no further use. These experiences sparked an idea in her mind. 

She thought a unique approach: transforming discarded textiles into a new form of plastic that could be used to create various products such as chairs, tables, water bottles, and many more items. Soon, she started working in this direction.

About her startup, Kleiderly:

In 2019, Alina Bassi founded Kleiderly, a startup dedicated to recycling unwanted textiles into sustainable plastic. This Germany-based company, Kleiderly’s mission is to give textile waste another chance at a useful life and lower the carbon footprint of the fashion industry.

Alina’s success:

• Kleiderly also introduced the world's first eyewear line made from recycled textiles.

• They save 2.5 kg of CO2 emission for every kg of material produced.

• Forbes' 30 Under 30 list recognizes Alina Bassi for her achievements.

• Currently, Alina is actively supporting female entrepreneurs as well.

Despite ignoring this issues, Bassi saw an opportunity and became a successful entrepreneur, pursuing her passion. 

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