Research & Development
We are not selling a material. We are proving whether one can responsibly exist.
The five-year challenge starts with disciplined research: what materials, processes, binders, safety standards, tests, partners, and use cases are required before a prototype deserves to exist?
The research question
Can post-consumer textiles become a safe, durable material input?
Altera is building the research-to-product-development pathway needed to answer that question without skipping the difficult parts.
Characterize textile inputs and contamination
Investigate preparation, shredding, pulping, and blending methods
Identify binder and composite pathways worth studying
Define performance, safety, and durability requirements
Determine the right prototype use case before building one
Progress Research
2025-2026 UW - Eau Claire Research Progress
UW–Eau Claire Materials Science: Green chemistry research on identifying and reducing common textile contaminants to support safer reuse pathways.
Key focus areas:
- Green chemistry approach using supercritical CO₂ as a more sustainable solvent
- Methods for removing contaminants from fabrics
- Characterization techniques to study captured contaminants (ex. FTIR, UV-Vis, gravimetric analysis)
UW–Eau Claire Business Management: Research on how textile sustainability systems get adopted through policy, administration, and repeatable implementation models.
Key focus areas:
- Adoption drivers: coercive (policy/regulation), normative (professional norms), mimetic (best-practice imitation)
- Administrative and governance implications (training, champions, workflow + technology integration)
- Policy pathways like EPRs and incentives that shift systems toward sustainability
- The need for reproducible case studies to help organizations implement with confidence
Expertise needed
This work is interdisciplinary by necessity.
Know someone who belongs in this research?
Warm introductions to scientists, chemists, engineers, principal investigators, labs, faculty, manufacturers, and building-science experts are a major need.
Researching whether discarded and underused resources can become practical materials for a more resilient built future.
Five-Year Challenge: move from research question to a viable, documented prototype.
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For community. By community. With community. • Use what we have. Build what we need.
Altera Circular Systems is fiscally sponsored by Embolden WI (501(c)(3)). Donations are processed through the fiscal sponsor and may be tax-deductible as permitted by law.
