H&M- and Vargas-backed polyester recycler Syre is aiming to bring its first commercial production plant online by the middle of next year.
The company launched earlier this year with high-powered backers and has already raised $160 million. It has laid out plans for an ambitious sprint to scale from pilot to industrial production of its textile-to-textile recycling technology within the next decade.
On Wednesday it announced plans to partner with polyester producer Selenis to expand an existing plant in North Carolina. With the addition of Syre’s recycling operations, the facility will be capable of producing 10,000 tonnes of recycled polyester by mid-2025.
”This is truly an important milestone on our journey to drive the great textile shift,” Syre CEO Dennis Nobelius said in a statement. The company is aiming to rapidly expand beyond this “blueprint plant” with ambitions to build 12 industrial facilities capable of producing more than 3 million tonnes globally by 2034.
Syre is racing to scale in a challenging market. The company launched shortly after Renewcell (another H&M-backed venture) went bankrupt, highlighting the technical and commercial hurdles that still face efforts to industrialise textile-to-textile recycling innovations. Renewcell was acquired out of administration in June and rebranded as Circulose.
The failure spurred a push to forge broader partnerships that could support innovators attempting to scale, which many see as critical to meeting the fashion industry’s sustainability goals. Syre launched with a $600 million take-or-pay contract from H&M.
Meanwhile, the company’s plans for a new plant are one of a flurry of new partnerships announced by recycling start-ups this week: Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group committed to buy up 5,000 tonnes of raw material from textile-to-textile recycler Circ; outerwear brand Arc’teryx partnered with LA-based recycler Ambercycle to start using its material from 2026; and Paris-based recycler Reju announced plans to team up with Goodwill and waste management company WM to develop infrastructure for textile collection, sorting, reuse and recycling in the US.
Learn more:
H&M-Backed Textile Recycler Syre Raises $100 Million
The joint venture formed by the fashion giant and green industry investor Vargas in March aims to start building two commercial facilities by 2025.
