Global fashion brands are working together to scale chemical recycling of polyester textiles, aiming to turn post-consumer clothing waste into high-quality fibres for new garments.
The Full Circle Textiles Project – Polyester, led by Fashion for Good, brings together brands including adidas, Bestseller, C&A, PVH Corp., Target and Zalando with innovators such as CuRe Technology, Garbo, gr3n and PerPETual. Polyester accounts for about 52 percent of the world’s textile fibres, yet nearly 73 percent of textiles end up in landfills or incinerators each year.
Over an 18-month validation phase, the project is testing chemical recycling methods that break polyester down to its molecular building blocks, producing material equivalent in quality to virgin polyester. Currently, less than 1 percent of clothing globally is recycled into new garments, highlighting the need for scalable solutions.
Also Read: Fast Fashion Forces Clothing Bank Closures in UK
The initiative also addresses barriers including higher costs, limited sorting infrastructure and financing gaps, while evaluating lifecycle impacts and production feasibility to guide broader adoption.
Industry momentum is growing, with initiatives such as the Textile Exchange’s 2025 Recycled Polyester Challenge encouraging brands to increase recycled content. Experts say collaborative projects like this mark a shift toward circular, environmentally responsible fashion.
