Retired Western Australian fire-service uniforms are being given a second life through a pioneering textile recycling project led by an RMIT University researcher.

As part of her PhD project Walking in Circles, designer and researcher Lisa Piller has worked with industry and research partners to pilot a fibre-to-fibre recycling pathway for decommissioned Parks and Wildlife Service uniforms, transforming them into new yarns and fashion garments.

The project combines recovered technical textile fibres with Kimberley-grown cotton from the first processing run of the region’s new cotton gin, helping demonstrate the potential for local circular textile systems.

The cotton gin allows cotton grown in the Kimberley to be processed locally rather than being transported thousands of kilometres interstate, creating new opportunities for regional processing and value-adding.

Piller said the project challenged conventional ideas about textile waste.

“These uniforms have spent years protecting the firefighters who work to safeguard Western Australia’s forests, parks and wildlife,” she said.

“Rather than ending their life in storage or landfill, we’ve been exploring how those fibres can be recovered, reprocessed and transformed into entirely new garments.”

Working with researchers at the ARC Research Hub for Future Fibres, Piller learnt fibre processing techniques including blending, carding and spinning to develop experimental yarns from the recovered material.

The resulting garments showcase how waste textiles can be kept in circulation and reimagined as valuable resources rather than discarded materials.

The project highlights growing efforts to address textile waste, which is one of fashion’s biggest sustainability challenges.

Piller’s project is currently on display at Fremantle Design Week 2026.