SAGES: Turning Food Waste Into Future-Proof Colour

In a world where colour remains one of the most polluting elements of textile production, a London-based startup is offering a radical alternative. SAGES, founded by former London College of Fashion students Emily Taylor and Alice Simpson, is reimagining how our fibres are dyed. They are not using petroleum, or coal tar, or indeed any of the nasties found in synthetic dyes – they are using the vibrant pigments hidden in everyday food waste.

SAGES vegetable waste and resulting colour products

This month, the company received a significant boost: £190,000 in funding from the British Design Fund to accelerate the commercialisation of its sustainable dye technology. For an industry urgently seeking safer, circular materials, the timing could not be better.

Synthetic dyes are estimated to generate around 20% of global wastewater, leaching toxins across waterways, ecosystems, and communities. SAGES’ mission is disarmingly simple: remove them from the supply chain altogether. Their patented formulations extract colour from five waste streams: red and yellow onion skins, coffee grounds, blueberry pulp, red cabbage, and avocado stones, transforming overlooked kitchen scraps into high-performance, water-soluble, biodegradable dyes. Crucially, these formulas slot seamlessly into existing dyeing processes, offering manufacturers a true like-for-like replacement...

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Image Credits:

Lead: SAGES Colour Range. Image courtesy of SAGES

All further images as credited in photo captions.