The innovative social startup, part of Torino Social Impact network, Atelier Riforma, has been selected as a semi-finalist among 177 others who have applied for the “Green Alley Award”, the most prestigious European prize for the circular economy.

To decree the 6 startups that will access the final there will be a public vote, active until February 15th.

For those unfamiliar with this project, it is an idea of ​​two young women, Elena Ferrero and Sara Secondo, who set themselves the goal of reducing the enormous environmental impact of the fashion industry through the circular economy.

The two young women started in 2019 by collecting used clothes and entrusting them to a network of tailors to remove the defects and make them wearable again. Atelier Riforma then officially became an innovative startup with a social vocation in 2020. Elena and Sara did not let themselves be discouraged by the complicated period of the pandemic: day after day they created a network of more than 25 tailoring professionals throughout Italy, including several social tailoring workshops, which promote the job inclusion of disadvantaged people such as migrants, ex-prisoners and women victims of violence.

They are now working on a system that allows this circular model to be applied on a larger scale: they have therefore just started the development of the first Artificial Intelligence technology for the cataloging and sorting of textile waste. This technology project has been called “Re4Circular” and that’s exactly what they nominated for the Green Alley Award. The objective of this machinery will be to direct as many used garments as possible towards sustainable uses, such as reuse, recycling and upcycling. And avoid them ending up in landfills!

By 2025, separate collection of textile waste will be mandatory throughout the EU, and this technology could make Italy a pioneer in the upcoming regulatory change in the sector. Their dream? Making sure that no clothing, after being used, is transformed into waste, but on the contrary is continuously recovered, transformed and put back into circulation, creating economic value and new jobs.

If you want to give these two young women one more chance, you can vote Atelier Riforma at this link.

Who knows if this year a TSI startup could win the prize!