Reju Expands Textile Mill Network for Regenerated Polyester

Reju is working with six textile mills in Europe and the Americas to develop finished fabrics from regenerated polyester, as it prepares to establish an international network of industrial-scale textile recycling facilities.

The Paris-based company, owned by Technip Energies, is collaborating with A. Sampaio, RDD Textiles, Tintex Textiles, FOV Fabrics, Utenos Trikotažas, and Swisstex Direct to demonstrate how polyester recovered from post-consumer textile waste can be incorporated into commercially viable fabrics.

Reju is developing a chemical recycling process based on technology from IBM Research, aiming to recover polyester from discarded textiles and reintegrate it into the textile supply chain without the quality limitations of conventional mechanical recycling.

The company is progressing plans for a network of Regeneration Hubs capable of processing post-consumer polyester waste at an industrial scale. Ensuring that regenerated materials can be efficiently processed by existing textile manufacturers and meet brand performance requirements is also a key challenge.

The six participating mills offer a range of manufacturing capabilities, including A. Sampaio's expertise in circular knitted fabrics and FOV Fabrics' high-performance woven textiles. Reju CEO Patrik Frisk emphasized the importance of these collaborations in building a circular textile system.

The expansion follows recent announcements regarding Reju's recycling infrastructure, including the selection of Rochester, New York, for its first North American Regeneration Hub and Lacq, France, for a European facility. The company has secured €135 million in funding through the Dutch government’s NIKI programme to support its operations in the Netherlands.