Case Study
COzTERRA: Carbon Capture through Clothing
Created by
Redress
,
2025
The fashion industry is under growing pressure to reduce its environmental impact, not just by cutting emissions but by actively contributing to climate solutions. As sustainability becomes a design imperative, brands and designers are seeking new ways to align creativity with climate action.
Why carbon removal matters:
Alongside emissions reductions, recent studies show that carbon removal must play a key role: approximately 7 to 9 billion tonnes of CO₂ will need to be removed annually by 2050 to meet the 1.5 °C Paris Agreement target.¹ To put this into perspective, that’s about 20 to 25% of current global CO₂ emissions,² or the equivalent of removing the annual emissions of nearly two billion passenger vehicles.³ Wearable solutions like COzTERRA’s aim to contribute to this massive global effort in a decentralised, human-centered way.
While nature-based solutions (such as afforestation, reforestation, and the restoration of ecosystems like mangroves and wetlands) are important, researchers also emphasise the need for scalable, long-lasting technological methods. These include innovations like direct air capture and active carbon-absorbing materials in our everyday environments.
This case study explores how fashion designers can contribute to climate solutions by rethinking the role of materials. Working with COzTERRA, we examine how their carbon-capturing technology is being applied to textiles—turning garments into tools that actively absorb CO₂ during wear and recharge through washing. Through collaborations with forward-thinking designers and brands, COzTERRA’s innovation is helping shift fashion’s role from reducing harm to generating positive environmental impact.
Designing for Impact: From Vision to Innovation
“What if clothing could do more than just less harm — what if it could actively help the planet?”
This idea sparked the development of COzTERRA, a materials innovation initiative under Xinterra, a company accelerating sustainability through material science. Developed using Xinterra’s proprietary AI-driven R&D platform, COzTERRA was designed to fast-track the discovery and optimisation of carbon-capturing textile finishes.
According to Patrick Teyssonneyre, CEO and Co-founder of Xinterra, “the goal was to create a complementary approach to industrial carbon removal that empowers individuals to become CO₂ capture agents through everyday products like garments.” This vision of distributed climate action drives the COzTERRA mission and its emphasis on accessibility at scale.
This mission drove COzTERRA from early concept to functional technology in just 14 months, a pace difficult to achieve in the chemical and textile innovation space. The team conducted over 1,500 lab-scale experiments during this time, generating the data used to train its AI platform and optimise the material’s carbon capture performance.
COzTERRA reflects Xinterra’s belief in transforming dormant surfaces into active climate tools, with textiles including garments, fashion accessories, and home textiles as the starting point. The team saw not only a scientific opportunity but a design one, unlocking new roles for fashion in addressing environmental challenges. While their broader vision includes applications beyond fashion, the current focus remains on textile-based products. The project has already earned industry recognition, including The Bridge Fashion Innovator programme in 2022 and the Vogue x BMW Innovation Prize in 2023.
Credit : COzTERRA
How It Works: A Wearable Cycle of Carbon Capture
COzTERRA enhances textiles with a CO₂-absorbing liquid formulation, applied during the finishing stage of manufacturing. To support the adoption of the technology, it has been engineered for seamless integration into standard textile production systems.
The carbon-capturing agent is typically applied during the finishing stage of a mill’s wet processing line — after dyeing and printing but before cutting and sewing — allowing mills to adopt the treatment without altering workflows or investing in new equipment. The process is compatible with conventional machinery such as padders and stenters, and has been validated across multiple fabric types. While standard application occurs at the fabric finishing stage, the treatment has also been successfully trialled for post-construction use on finished garments.
The innovation not only integrates into existing processes but does so without altering fabric appearance, feel, or performance. The team works closely with mills to ensure that treated textiles retain their original softness, durability, and aesthetics, or as Teyssonneyre puts it, “perform just like they should, only now, they capture carbon.” The formulation is compatible with a wide range of natural, synthetic, and blended fibres, giving manufacturers flexibility to apply the treatment across multiple product lines. In some cases, small adjustments to the application method may be needed to meet specific performance goals.
By embedding innovation into an existing step, COzTERRA enables scalable and consistent performance across diverse manufacturing contexts.
Credit : COzTERRA. COzTERRA’s carbon-capturing garments recharge during regular washing.
圖片來源：COzTERRA：COzTERRA 的碳捕捉服裝可在日常洗滌過程中補充碳。
图片来源：COzTERRA：COzTERRA 的碳捕捉服装可在日常洗涤过程中补充碳。
Once worn, COzTERRA-treated garments capture CO₂ from the surrounding air. During a regular laundry cycle, the absorbed CO₂ is converted into a stable mineral that is rinsed away. At the same time, the garment’s carbon-capturing ability is recharged, enabling continued CO₂ removal across multiple wash cycles, typically between 30 to 100 depending on usage and fabric type. After this, the capture functionality gradually reduces.
Credit: COzTERRA. Wear, absorb, wash, repeat
圖片來源：COzTERRA
图片来源：COzTERRA
To validate performance, the team built proprietary high-throughput environmental chambers — a system that can process a large volume of data — to simulate wear conditions and measure carbon capture accurately. These measuring tools are unique and this method is certified by Intertek, a globally recognised independent testing and certification body, supporting COzTERRA’s claims with scientific backing.
Credit: COzTERRA. Driven by artificial intelligence (AI), COzTERRA creates textiles that actively absorb carbon dioxide from the air. Controlled lab testing shows the material reducing CO₂ levels from ~660 ppm to ~355 ppm in 5.5 hours.
On average, a COzTERRA-treated T-shirt can remove between 16 to 41 grams of CO₂ over its lifetime, depending on fabric weight, fibre type, and number of wears. When adopted at scale, this innovation creates a distributed network of climate action, turning everyday garments into tools for environmental impact through something as simple as wearing and washing clothes. To help visualise this, wearing a COzTERRA-treated T-shirt 20 times can remove roughly the same amount of CO₂ as a mature tree absorbs in a single day⁴. Internal testing also shows a range of carbon removal values depending on material composition, with results as high as 175 mg/g for 100% cotton garments.
From Collaboration to Scale – Bringing COzTERRA to Market
COzTERRA’s material innovation is already moving beyond the lab through early collaborations with fashion brands and designers that share its vision for climate-conscious design.
Credit: COzTERRA. From Singapore to Brazil, early partners are using COzTERRA to bring carbon capture into their design stories.
In 2024, COzTERRA’s material was adopted by early partners, including two Singapore-based labels and Brazilian brand Malwee. These partnerships reflect a growing interest in carbon-capturing textiles as a new category of sustainable innovation. COzTERRA supports brands and designers in understanding how carbon removal can strengthen both their environmental messaging and their market edge, translating scientific performance into accessible, consumer-facing narratives that reinforce sustainability positioning.
Credit: COzTERRA. COzTERRA partners with knitwear designer Bryan Yeo to unveil an exclusive carbon-capturing dress.
A key showcase for COzTERRA took place during Next in Vogue 2024, an initiative led by Vogue Singapore, who commissioned Singaporean knitwear designer Bryan Yeo, a graduate of Central Saint Martins, to collaborate with COzTERRA. Yeo crafted the knitwear garment using intricate handwork and pleating techniques. Following its full construction, the COzTERRA treatment was carefully added, manually sprayed in the lab, turning the dress into a carbon-capturing agent, with the finishing enabling the fabric to absorb CO₂ and convert it into a harmless mineral during washing. This demonstrated the material’s adaptability to finished garments and its compatibility with different fabric types, including knits. Given that the finish was hand-applied post-construction, this approach is currently suited to unique or limited pieces rather than industrial-scale production. This collaboration reinforced the technology’s appeal to forward-thinking designers and highlighted its potential for integration across diverse fashion applications.
As with many breakthrough innovations, widespread adoption takes time. For COzTERRA, early challenges have centered around brand and consumer awareness, along with questions about the technology’s effectiveness and durability. To address this scepticism, the team prioritises scientific transparency by openly sharing test results, third-party certifications, and environmental performance data. COzTERRA also works closely with textile manufacturers to apply the treatment across a range of fabrics and production settings, ensuring ease of integration without disrupting existing processes.
Roadmap – What’s Next for COzTERRA
With proof of concept and early adoption in place, COzTERRA is now focused on scaling its impact. The team is deepening partnerships with mills and manufacturers to expand production capabilities, while continuing to validate performance across a wide range of textiles and product categories.
In parallel, they are laying the groundwork for long-term credibility by contributing to emerging certification frameworks and exploring integration into carbon credit systems. These efforts are key to enabling wider brand adoption and building consumer trust.
Beyond the lab and the runway, COzTERRA aims to inspire more designers to consider functionality and climate impact as essential criteria in material selection. As the technology scales, so does its potential — not only to offset emissions, but also to redefine fashion’s role in climate action.
COzTERRA envisions a future where carbon-capturing textiles are no longer a novelty but an industry standard. As Patrick Teyssonneyre reflects, “In five to ten years, we want people to look back and ask: how was it ever normal to wear clothes that didn’t capture CO₂?”
About the Contributor
Born out of Xinterra, COzTERRA is an AI-optimised materials technology to enable carbon-capturing textiles that address urgent sustainability challenges. Formed by a collective driven by gratitude for the planet, COzTERRA’s vision is to enable every human being to become a CO₂ removal agent. Through climate-focused design and science-led collaboration, the company is committed to making a lasting positive impact on the environment. This case study was developed in collaboration with Patrick Teyssonneyre, CEO and Co-founder of Xinterra and Orchestrator of COzTERRA, whose insights shaped the narrative of science-backed, design-led innovation in carbon-capturing textiles.
Footnotes
¹The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal: A global, independent scientific assessment of Carbon Dioxide Removal 2nd Edition (2024).
²CO₂ Emissions: Global Energy Review: Analysis by International Energy Analysis (2025)
³Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle: Environmental Protection Agency (2025)
⁴COzTERRA, Based on internal testing