Former sportswear executive Patrik Frisk, who was responsible for synthetic fabric production at companies such as Under Armour, The North Face, and Gore-Tex, now serves as CEO of Reju, dedicated to solving the recycling problem of polyester textiles. Founded in 2023 and backed by French engineering company Technip Energies, Reju is headquartered in Paris and has a pilot plant in Frankfurt, Germany.

Frisk points out that more than 124 million tons of polyester are produced globally each year, but less than 1% of textile waste is recycled into new fibers. Most polyester clothing ends up in landfills or incinerators. Reju uses a chemical method: after removing zippers and buttons from discarded polyester clothing and shredding it, the material is chemically separated and decomposed into monomers, then polymerized into pure polyester powder, made into pellets, re-spun into yarn, and finally turned into high-quality fabric.

The biggest current challenge is that clothing often contains blends of cotton, nylon, or spandex, but Reju's technology can already separate them effectively. Frisk admits that this process is relatively costly, but compared with mechanical recycling of plastic bottles, chemical recycling does not reduce material quality and can be cycled infinitely. Reju plans to collaborate with brands in the future to reintroduce recycled fabric into the supply chain.

This year Reju has announced two facilities in the United States: a recycling center in Rochester, New York, expected to operate in 2029, and an R&D center in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, which will focus on developing new technologies. To optimize the recycling process, Reju is partnering with local Goodwill and Waste Management to reduce the flow of discarded materials overseas. Jennifer Lake, president of Goodwill Finger Lakes, said that in recent years the share of low-value textiles has risen, and solutions to turn waste into value are urgently needed. Although Reju's feedstock is currently mainly polyester, the technology may expand to other fibers in the future.

Source: He Spent His Career Selling Polyester Gear. Now He Wants to Recycle It. · Originally published on 2026-08-31