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Think beyond plastic
- 1. DGrade Kris Barber – Founder/ CEO Tel ++971 555498763 E mail info@dgrade.com We make great clothes from plastic bottles!
- 2. The problem • The U.A.E has the highest consumption of bottled water per capita in the world. • 1.5 Billion plastic bottles produced in the U.A.E. alone in 2010. • Millions of tons of PET ends up in landfill or in the desert and on the beaches. Hundreds of camels and thousands of marine life creatures are dying every year through ingesting plastic waste. • We work with organisations that recover plastic waste from beaches and from the desert and use this local waste in our supply chain • As well as taking feedstock from recyclers we also help and implement beach and desert clean -up campaigns with local schools and colleges. • We tour the region and deliver educational programs to raise awareness about Plastic pollution and how we make fabrics through our recycling process. • We set a Plastic Challenge to local schools to see who could collect the most plastic and then took the plastic collected into our supply chain.
- 3. The solution. • We use post consumer plastic bottles in the production of our yarns and fabrics and have partnered with a U.K. company that currently produce the yarns in China in order to develop the supply chain in the Middle East. • Plastic bottles are chopped into flakes, heated and extruded into fibre and then spun and knitted into fabric. • It takes 3 plastic bottles blended with cotton to make a T shirt. Our shorts are 100% recycled PET – there are 30 bottles in every pair of shorts. • Our fabrics are more stable, better quality and last longer than conventional cotton material. • So far our production has saved over 2 million plastic bottles going to landfill.
- 4. Commercial feasibility • Dgrade offer a complete design and manufacturing service made using recycled fabrics from plastic bottles • Our current supply chain is in China and Pakistan. We are now developing our own plant in the U.A.E. using local waste, our ultimate goal is to have the worlds first closed loop manufacturing system. • We produce merchandise for corporate uniforms and promotional / events companies. We also produce and wholesale our own recycled brands. DIRTBALL and SPIKED. • We encourage our customers to recycle their plastic and where feasible take the raw material into our supply chain.
- 5. Our process Discarded plasticbottles Washed and flaked…then heated and extruded into fibre… Separated and bundled Then spun into yarn
- 6. Marketing and Sales strategy • Producing merchandise for events companies and managing the recovery of plastic for our supply chain • Digital marketing and virals. • Sponsored extreme sports athletes wearing our products • Educational initiatives to explain the causes and what can be done to reduce plastic use. • PR in National and international press and media • Online social media partnerships • Online links and exchanges with customers • B2b events
- 7. Competitors • Some fashioncompanies are already producing elements of their collections using PET fabrics. However with access to over 160 different fabrics, we are the only company that offers a manufacturing service to corporate businesses and brands. • We have a portfolio of designers that can produce a variety of bespoke product for our customers by contract manufacturing using our recycled fabrics.
- 8. Who are we? •Kris Barber – Founder/ CEO – 25 yrs experience in manufacturing and production for UK Brands and High St Retailers • Liam Knowles (Partner) 8 yrs as yarn developer for Greenpac • Ashley Barwick – Sales and Marketing – Internet and digital media guru, past work includes Album covers for Coldplay, brochures for London Underground and British Museum. • James Dyer – Sales (UK) Previously recycling co ordinator at Leeds and Reading Pop Festivals with a full understanding of recycling processes. • Iqubal Ghallaf – Supply Chain manager – established our supply chain in Pakistan. • Faisal Iqubal – Production controller and QC
- 9. Financials SALES FORECASTS ANDPROJECTIONS • Currently we have over 50 companies •Sales yr 1 – $1.2m that have requested quotations and/ or samples. We work on a conversion rate •Sales yr 3 – $3.6m of 20% but hope this will improve as our costs reduce through local production. By Year 5 we would •Sales yr 5 - $10.5m anticipate having over 100 regular customers. • We are looking to raise a total of $650,000 for working capital and to ease cashflow for Dgrade. A proportion of this to be raised through equity sale. Up to now the business has been self funded and is profitable. • We are not looking to raise funding for the manufacturing process itself as this is already being covered through private equity funding. The factory will be established during the next 12 months and Dgrade will be shareholders in the plant.
- 10. Sustainability • Compared toManufacturing polyester from scratch: • 20% less Water • 50% less energy • 55% fewer carbon emissions • We do not use Oil!
- 11. Current status • Dgrade has been trading since Oct 2010 and is now profitable and working with some of the worlds largest brands and businesses. • We are already on target to meet our sales forecast of $1.2m in 2013. • We won SME Green Business of the Year in 2012. • We have helped save tons of plastic going to landfill! • Our project has the support of the ‘Green Sheikh’ His Highness Abdul Aziz al Nuaimi. • If we win $50,000 it will give us funding for a local showroom/ office, to employ key staff and to do some good by recycling even more plastic waste!
Editor's Notes
- #6 Make bigger/simpler