Reju has become a partner of Recycling Europe Textiles as the textile-to-textile recycling company expands its commercial recycling footprint in Europe. The collaboration coincides with construction of an industrial-scale Regeneration Hub at Chemelot Industrial Park in Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands, and builds on an earlier investment. Reju secured a 135 million euro investment this year from the Netherlands’ Nationale Investeringsregeling Klimaatprojecten Industrie (NIKI) program to support the project.
Julia Ettinger, secretary-general of Recycling Europe, welcomed Reju’s membership, saying: “We are delighted to welcome Reju as our newest partner of Recycling Europe Textiles. This partnership shows how industry collaboration can scale textile circularity at the speed Europe now needs unlocking both environmental and economic opportunity.”
Recycling Europe represents more than 80 national federations and companies across 24 European Union and European Free Trade Association countries. Its membership covers multiple sectors, including paper, plastics and textiles. The organisation advocates for stronger recycling practice across Europe, connects recycling industries and circular economy stakeholders, and provides cross-sectoral expertise on materials, serving as a bridge between policymakers and the recycling value chain.
Reju’s network and product focus
Alongside the Chemelot site under construction, Reju operates teams across Europe and North America and runs a Regeneration Hub in Frankfurt, Germany. The company has indicated plans for further industrial scaling with sites slated for Lacq, France, and Rochester in New York. Reju produces a textile-to-textile recycled polyester product called Reju Polyester, which the company says is made using processes that produce nearly 50 percent less carbon emissions than virgin material production.
At Sourcing Journal’s Sustainability Summit last year, Reju’s head of North American business development, Matthew Allen, said building partnerships with stakeholders such as Recycling Europe Textiles plays an important role in the company’s model for scaling textile-to-textile recycling. Reju CEO Patrik Frisk reiterated that view after the announcement: “Building partnerships like this one are important and we have the opportunity to establish a genuine circular ecosystem for textile recycling and invite collaboration across the entire value chain.”
Scale of the challenge and policy views
Data cited from Boston Consulting Group indicates Europe generated 15.2 million tons of textile waste in 2025, with 60 to 70 percent of that waste composed of polyester. In a recent white paper, Reju stated that multi-stakeholder partnerships are essential to address this volume and that policy action alone will not suffice. The report said: “If Europe wants a circular textile economy, it must legislate and deliver a unified framework that actually works. Start with waste: strengthen and better organize Europe’s post-consumer textile stream through fully harmonized EPR, enforcement, and end-of-waste clarity,” adding that mandatory recycled content obligations at brand level and predictable ramp-ups are needed to create reliable demand.
