We sit down with Azin Jahanijavanmardi, Industrial PhD Student at CelluCircle, to talk materials science, additive manufacturing, giving textile waste a second life, and the technologies she believes could shape the future.
At CelluCircle, developing our recycling technology is only part of the journey. Just as important is understanding what our recovered materials can become next, how they can be processed, and where they can create value in new applications.
That’s a big part of Azin Jahanijavanmardi’s work.
As an Industrial PhD student at Stockholm University in collaboration with CelluCircle, Azin combines academic research with hands-on material development. Her work spans materials chemistry, polymers and additive manufacturing, helping us explore how materials recovered from textile waste can move from initial formulations to practical, scalable applications.
We sat down with Azin to learn more about her background, her work at CelluCircle and why she believes materials deserve more than one life.
Tell us a little about yourself and your background.
I’m Azin, with a background in materials chemistry and chemical engineering, as well as industrial experience working with biopolymers. I’m currently an Industrial PhD student at Stockholm University in collaboration with CelluCircle, where I combine academic research with practical material development.
What led you to join CelluCircle?
CelluCircle brings together many areas I’m interested in: materials science, polymers, recycling and sustainability. I was especially attracted by the opportunity to turn research into materials and applications that can work in the real world.
What is your role at CelluCircle, and what does a typical day look like?
My work focuses on material development and additive manufacturing. A typical day can include filament production, 3D printing, analysing results and, of course, occasionally convincing a clogged 3D-printer nozzle to cooperate.
What has been the most interesting thing you've worked on so far?
Developing printable materials from recycled textile-derived components has been one of the most interesting parts. It’s rewarding to see a material go from an initial formulation to a filament and finally into a real 3D-printed object.
Imagine turning your old T-shirt into a plant pot!
What excites you most about CelluCircle's technology and mission?
Clothes are part of our lives. They cover us and stay with us through good and bad moments, so it feels unfair to simply throw them away at the end of their first life.
At CelluCircle, we give those materials a second chance. Something that was once a piece of clothing could one day become part of your glasses, your phone case or another useful product.
I really like the idea that materials can have more than one life.
What have you learned since joining the team?
I’ve learned that developing a good material is about much more than achieving good results in the lab.
It also has to be processable, reproducible, scalable and useful in a real application.
Looking ahead, what are you most excited to work on or learn more about at CelluCircle?
I’m especially excited about our new project, where we’ll be testing our newly developed filament with a new 3D printer.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how the material performs and exploring how we can optimise both the material and the printing process together.
And finally, a fun one: What innovation or technology, inside or outside of sustainability, do you think will have the biggest impact on our future?
I think the biggest impact will come from technologies that help us use materials more intelligently rather than simply producing more of them.
The combination of AI, advanced materials and additive manufacturing could help us design better materials, optimise how we process them and manufacture products with less waste.
Giving materials another life
Azin’s work represents an important part of what happens after CelluCircle separates and recovers materials from textile waste: understanding how those materials can be developed, optimised and ultimately returned to the value chain in new forms.
As CelluCircle continues to scale, this connection between research, material development and real-world applications will be increasingly important.
And as Azin puts it, perhaps the simplest way to think about the opportunity is that materials can have more than one life.