Syre, a venture initiated by global investor Vargas Holding and Swedish retailer H&M Group, is spearheading the decarbonisation and wastage reduction of the textile industry through large-scale textile-to-textile recycling, starting with polyester.
H&M Group, Vargas, and TPG Rise Climate form Syre, with TPG Rise Climate serving as a founding investor. A $600 million offtake agreement covering a significant portion of the retailer’s long-term requirement for recycled polyester, which is now mostly derived from circular polyester (rPET), has been secured by H&M Group with Syre. The arrangement is valid for seven years.
With improved sustainability performance and quality comparable to oil-based virgin polyester, Syre intends to establish several production units globally that will generate textile-to-textile circular polyester, thereby lowering CO2 emissions by up to 85%.
With aspirations to expand globally in Asia and Europe within the next ten years, the first production factory is currently under construction in North Carolina, USA.
H&M Group’s CEO Daniel Ervér explained that Syre was an important step on the retailer’s journey to integrating circularity across its business. He added, “With this solution to rapidly scale textile-to-textile recycling, we want to continue to drive and inspire more industry players to join us in closing the loop and accelerating the shift towards a more sustainable future.”
“By implementing true textile-to-textile recycling at hyper-scale, we want to drive the transition from a linear to a circular value chain by putting textile waste to use, over and over again,” said Dennis Nobelius, CEO of Syre.
Within the next ten years, Syre hopes to have twelve gigascale facilities completely operating throughout the world, producing more than three million metric tonnes (MT) of circular polyester. Because of its adaptability, the platform may eventually be expanded into new fibres and technologies.
