Textile Insight

for the feedstock versus what it costs to prepare the feedstock do not align, so there is no real push to set up garment preprocessing facilities. In October 2024, Goodwill and textile-to-textile regeneration company Reju announced that, with WM (formerly Waste Management), they would align to pursue a way of advancing textile recycling in the U.S. e plan is to develop "a collaborative model for regional textile collection, sortation, reuse and recycling that will divert more nonwearable textile materials from the waste stream," according to the release. "As an expert in collections, sorting and logistics, WM plans to collect and sort textiles, primarily from businesses. Once these materials are sorted, the intention is that Goodwill will grade and resell viable apparel, Reju will purchase textiles it can recycle with its technology and WM will manage the remaining materials with other fiber recyclers and end markets," according to Raymond Randall, textiles senior manager, WM. e collaboration will potentially streamline the flow of materials throughout the supply chain, helping to reduce waste. Goodwill will work with WM on pilots to collect, sort and grade discarded textiles for resale. "As textile recyclers scale up, we are building the capabilities to sort materials by fiber type to meet recyclers' specifications. Scaling this work will require advanced sortation technology which requires significant investment," explained Brittany Dickinson, director of sustainability at Goodwill Industries International. A portion of the remaining textiles, determined by Goodwill as not suitable for resale, are expected to be provided to textile regeneration company Reju. is supply of feedstock will potentially be recycled and regenerated into new materials at Reju's U.S.- based facility, to be announced imminently. Reju is developing the infrastructure (there is already a regeneration hub in Frankfurt, Germany) to take textile waste including polyester and regenerate it to scale. Reju Polyester is expected to have a 50% lower carbon footprint than virgin polyester. Reju CEO Patrik Frisk believes that brands – and ultimately consumers – will be willing to pay the higher price for Reju Polyester (like they have for recycled polyester and organic cotton), but first an entire system needs to be put in place. "We are building regen hubs that will take in about 60,000 tons of waste. To get what we need, we would need to sort through about 250,000 tons. You can't do that by hand. e equipment needed to do this work exists, but aer we take what we need, what do you do with the rest of it?" contemplated Frisk. To create Naia Renew, Eastman draws upon post-consumer carpets and other hard-to-recycle materials that mechanical recycling cannot process as its feedstock. "Eastman's patented molecular recycling technologies allow us to focus on being a solution provider for those waste streams that today do not have a sustainable end-of-life solution and would otherwise end up in landfills," commented Claudia de Witte, head of sustainability, textiles at Eastman. e Eastman carbon renewal technology processes hard-to-recycle waste materials by breaking them down into molecular building blocks to create acetic acid to be used as feedstock in cellulose acetate production. Naia Renew staple fibers and filament yarn are composed of 60% sustainably sourced wood pulp and 40% GRS-certified recycled waste materials via mass. Circular Polymers reclaims polyester carpet from homes and businesses at the company's reclamation facility in Lincoln, California; then process and prep it for transport by rail to Eastman's Kingsport, Tennessee manufacturing site for chemical recycling. "Carpet pulled from houses and commercial buildings is a particularly problematic landfill item because transport is not easy – carpet is heavy and bulky – and there is a lot of it," the exec noted. textileinsight.com Spring 2025 ~ Textile Insight • 19 The North Face is working to complete the circle by giving old gear new life. "This is a new problem. In the old days we used things until they were unusable," said Reju CEO Patrik Frisk.

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