Scaling new technology is difficult We have talked about circularity in textiles for many years now, so why is it not happening for real, at scale? Scaling circular textiles to industrial scale is a catch 22. The recycling technologies need to be well-tested and ready and there needs to be a continuous flow of raw materials to support stable production, in order to justify the investment into new production lines. Up until now these two areas have not lined up to truly start textile to textile recycling en masse. On the one hand, fiber recycling that can regenerate virgin quality fibers have been worked on for years but have failed to reach commercial scale. There are many great technologies out there but very few are set up for scaling. On the other hand, there are a lot of textile waste in the world, but given the inherent complexities of textile material --mixed compositions, a variety of use cases and different flows at end of life -- bringing materials back into a circular loop to work as feedstock have been costly and lacking demand. This leads to material being landfilled or incinerated. The technology needs consistent feedstock to scale, and the feedstock needs solid use cases for being developed. Who should go first?   Overcoming dilemmas require being bold H&M, one of the giant global apparel brands, acknowledged this dilemma a couple of years back. Being committed to decarbonization and sustainability targets for year, its venture arm had invested in quite a few innovators in the space of circular textiles, but didn't see the traction they wished for -- none of them being able to scale to truly move H&M Groups sustainability target HM teamed up with a Swedish investor with experience from building and scaling green businesses from a number of other industries and put research and effort into finding a way to make circular textiles available at scale, starting with polyester The result: in 2023 they founded Syre. Syre is a textile impact company on a mission to decarbonize and dewaste the textile industry through textile-to-textile recycling at hyperscale, starting with polyester. At unprecedented speed and scale, Syre aims at driving the green shift of the textile industry to a future where every textile fiber sees a new day. Syre will support all major polyester users, focusing on apparel, automotive and home interior This ambition resonates with the industry. In the first major finance round companies linked to IKEA, Volvo and Volkswagen have invested alongside financial investors with focus on commercial scale, such as the world’s largest climate fund TPG rise and Giant and Norrsken VCs. The company’s textile-to-textile recycling solution provides circular polyester with quality on par with virgin polyester, but with a superior sustainability performance. Syre has diligently selected a recycling technology that has a simple and efficient process, low chemical use and is energy efficient -- attributes that are key to scale quickly Syre’s first major commercial plant is planned for 150-250 K tons capacity and is planned to start operating in 2-3 years, and the plan is to achieve 3 M tons production in the next 10 years. Today we are at an inflection point where scaling can happen, recycling technologies have left the lab and are stable enough to scale. Sorting technologies for textiles have been heavily developed in the last 5 years and can be expected to improve in accuracy and throughput in the coming years. On top of that, regulation in influential regions such as EU and California are incentivizing the textile sector to move thanks to regulation on extended producer responsibility and other Yet, scale is key for competitiveness, access to raw materials, sheer ability to "come through" the complex textile value chain   Building an ecosystem to lead the textile shift Syre is committed to lead the textile shift, yet installing new capacity will require large investments and we need to build up the whole value chain to make it work. We will only be successful when we have partners committing in all areas from feedstock to end product demand. Our commitment will have direct ripple effects, when Syre secures demand and commit to our partners, this enables the whole value chain to invest and to grow with us – we have secured the biggest of take agreement in the industry with HM. In this fashion, we foresee Syre driving the ecosystem development thanks to its volume ambitions and scale thinking, not the least in the feedstock area. Our key principles for raw materials are: 100% textiles, adhere to waste hierarchy, mass balance inputs to scale quickly We will in many instances be driving volumes in the system that will bring in materials also for other recyclers, enabling feedstock availability on a continuous basis that could trigger innovation for new applications. We are always looking for partners willing to work long-term to make this textile shift happen, whether it'd be technology development, feedstock supply or else. The great textile shift starts now – join us!