Key Points

  • Primark has signed its first multi-year sourcing agreement for textile-to-textile recycled material with Circ, with recycled polyester set to enter Primark apparel lines in 2029.
  • The feedstock will be produced by Circ's first industrial-scale textile-to-textile recycling commercial plant, sourced globally and covering both post-consumer and post-industrial waste, including the valorization of European textile waste.
  • Circ's patented technology targets polycotton blends, one of the most widely used and historically hardest-to-recycle categories in fashion.

Fast-fashion and lifestyle retail giant Primark has announced a long-term partnership with Circ, a global specialist in textile-to-textile recycling, to bring recycled polyester made from textile waste into its clothing products, with rollout set for 2029. Primark called the agreement "an important step in bringing this next-generation material to Primark customers at scale and at an affordable price."

According to Primark, this is its first multi-year offtake agreement with a textile-to-textile recycler, continuing the value retailer's goal of strengthening the circularity of its business and supply chain. The recycled polyester under the agreement will be produced at Circ's commercial plant, which will also become Circ's first industrial-scale textile-to-textile recycling facility.

How the raw materials are sourced is equally noteworthy: the plant will procure textile feedstock globally, from both post-consumer and post-industrial waste, and from "several locations," including the valorization of European textile waste.

Strategically, Primark, through its Primark Cares program, focuses on extending the life of clothing and materials and reducing waste, including by embedding circular design principles into product development and helping customers extend the life of their garments through reuse and repair programs.

On the technical side, Circ's patented technology is designed specifically for polycotton blended textiles—one of the most widely used and historically hardest-to-recycle material streams in the fashion industry.

Lynne Walker, Director of Primark Cares, said the partnership is an important milestone in embedding circularity further into the business and helps scale innovative textile-to-textile recycling solutions that could play a transformative role in the future of fashion.

For the used-clothing and recycled-fiber industry, the value of this agreement lies on the demand side: a major retailer has locked in an outlet for textile-to-textile recycled material through a multi-year offtake commitment, and polycotton recycling is moving from technical validation to industrial scale and commercial procurement, offering textile waste—especially post-sorting waste in Europe—a pathway into new apparel production.

Source: Primark's recycled polyester initiative with Circ is 'significant' · Originally published 2026-09-29