Primark has signed a multi-year offtake agreement with textile-to-textile recycler Circ; recycled polyester from the latter's planned commercial-scale recycling plant will enter Primark's garment supply chain from 2029. In parallel, adidas, H&M, Inditex and other brands have launched the Apparel Recovery Coalition (ARC), kicking off a producer responsibility pilot in Ghana's Kantamanto second-hand market.

Key points

  • The agreement between Primark and Circ is Primark's first multi-year offtake contract with a textile-to-textile recycler, with recycled polyester planned for use in Primark clothing from 2029.
  • Circ's commercial plant will process blended fabrics such as polycotton, using post-consumer and post-industrial textile waste collected in markets including Europe.
  • adidas, BESTSELLER, H&M Group, Inditex and The Or Foundation jointly launched the Apparel Recovery Coalition, providing voluntary funding in 2026-2027, with the first demonstration project in Accra's Kantamanto market, Ghana.

The agreement between Primark and Circ is the former's first multi-year offtake contract with a textile-to-textile recycler. The recycled material will be produced at Circ's planned commercial-scale recycling plant and supplied for use in Primark products. Primark said the move is intended to increase the share of circular materials, reduce reliance on virgin polyester, and align with its broader approach to changing how clothing is designed, produced and recycled.

Circ's technology targets blended fabrics that have historically been difficult to recycle, such as polycotton. Its process separates polyester from cellulose fibers, allowing both materials to be recovered and used to make new textile materials. According to Circ, its commercial plant's textile waste sources span multiple markets, covering both post-consumer and post-industrial waste, including textile waste collected in Europe. Recycled polyester from the plant is expected to be used in Primark clothing from 2029, and the two sides hope to open a pathway for textile-waste-derived recycled fibers into large-scale fashion supply chains.

Lynne Walker, Director of Primark Cares, said the original purpose of launching Primark Cares was to improve clothing quality and durability and to prove that longer-lasting clothes need not cost more; she called the partnership an important milestone in accelerating circularity goals, helping to scale innovative textile-to-textile recycling solutions that could have a transformative impact on the future fashion industry.

Meanwhile, Primark has tightened its circular design requirements. Its Circular Product Standard, which guides design toward durability, material use and recyclability, was updated in April this year after considering research findings and feedback from suppliers, recyclers, the Circular Textiles Foundation and other textile waste management participants. The new standard has two tiers: Foundational, which sets the minimum threshold for products recognized as circular design, and Progressive, which is more stringent. Both tiers cover material inputs, durability and recyclability, and products must contain recycled fibers or fibers from more sustainable sources; products meeting the Progressive tier must also have textile-to-textile recycled fibers in their main fabric. The standard also encourages the use of mono-materials instead of blends wherever possible, and restricts unnecessary trims, adhesives and prints that hinder recycling. On durability, Foundational products must pass performance tests after 23 washes, while Progressive products must pass after 32 washes. However, Primark acknowledged that in fiscal year 2024-25, only 5% of the garments it sold met the original circular product standard launched in 2023.

In another related development, adidas, BESTSELLER, H&M Group, Inditex and The Or Foundation jointly launched the Apparel Recovery Coalition (ARC) to study how producer responsibility systems can support reuse, upcycling, recycling and waste management in countries that receive large volumes of exported second-hand clothing. The European Environment Agency estimates that the EU exports about 1.4 million tonnes of used textiles each year, mainly to African and Asian countries. Over the next two years, ARC will develop and test a producer responsibility framework that takes international textile flows into account, with participants planned to include brands, producer responsibility organizations, textile sorters and recyclers, policymakers, and communities affected by second-hand clothing imports. The initiative was launched in Accra's Kantamanto market, Ghana—a major hub for second-hand clothing, repair and upcycling; The Or Foundation estimates that about 25 million garments circulate through the market each month, supporting tens of thousands of workers and traders. ARC's first demonstration project will examine how producer responsibility funding can support Ghana's existing textile reuse and circular economy activities; The Or Foundation will continue to advance the project in Accra, including infrastructure improvements, environmental remediation and training programs in Kantamanto market. The coalition also plans to set up a second demonstration project in another country receiving used clothing exports, hoping to use evidence and practical experience to inform future pathways for post-consumer textile management. ARC operates through an independent foundation registered in the Netherlands, with Circle Economy serving as secretariat. adidas, BESTSELLER, H&M Group and Inditex will provide voluntary funding in 2026-2027 to support circular economy activities in the second-hand market.

For the used clothing trade and recycling industry, these two developments point to opposite ends of the supply chain: on one end, brands are securing downstream outlets for textile-waste-derived recycled fibers through multi-year offtake agreements, providing demand certainty for textile-to-textile recycling capacity; on the other end, producer responsibility funding is beginning to be piloted in second-hand clothing hubs like Kantamanto, which may affect the sorting, reuse and upcycling landscape in destinations of used clothing exports.

Source: Recycled polyester to enter Primark clothing from 2029 · Originally published 2026-09-29