Textile Recycler Circ Names New Brand Partners as It Grows Commercial Reach

Textile-to-textile recycler Circ is expanding its commercial reach with a new set of brand partners.

This week, the US-based startup, which counts Zara-owner Inditex among its backers, is adding a second cohort of brands, including Madewell, Reformation and C&A, to its Fiber Club initiative, designed to help companies move beyond small pilots of its patented recycled materials towards long-term sourcing. Circ named an inaugural group in January that included Everlane, Zalando and Bestseller.

The announcement signals growing demand for the company’s poly-cotton recycled inputs as it prepares for its first industrial-scale facility in France, expected to be operational in 2028.

“There’s fatigue with one-off pilots,” said Peter Majeranowski, Circ’s chief executive. “Fiber Club creates a blueprint that moves from testing to material development to long-term uptake.”

Circ says its patented process separates any ratio of poly-cotton blends across leading fiber producers, a key differentiator from counterparts like Reju and Circulose.

The Fiber Club model, created in collaboration with sustainable industry organisation Fashion for Good and environmental non-profit Canopy, pools demand for Circ’s materials across multiple brands and aligns suppliers across the supply chain — from pulp to yarn — to lower minimum order quantities and reduce costs, making recycled fibres easier to integrate into existing production systems. Instead of a brand attempting to navigate suppliers independently, the programme creates a shared framework for testing, scaling and ultimately committing to recycled inputs.

The initiative aims to address one of the biggest barriers to adoption of next-generation materials: the gap between technological feasibility and commercial implementation.

“For innovative materials to have an impact, you really have to match demand with production and know how to incorporate the product into brand supply chains,” said Majeranowski.

Lenzing and Linz Textil, which specialise in lyocell and recycled polyester fibre production, are joining as supply partners in the sophomore cohort. They follow inaugural supply partner Birla Cellulose.

The company’s long-term approach is largely determined by its need to finance its France facility, but also reflects broader lessons from across the textile-recycling sector. Companies have struggled when production capacity outpaced brands’ ability to incorporate new innovative fibres into their supply chains, which is what led to first-mover Renewcell’s bankruptcy in 2024. Circ has paired Fiber Club with its “Circ Ready” supplier network, which pre-qualifies manufacturers capable of working with its recycled materials, aiming to reduce friction in adoption.

Demand is also being driven by policy pressure. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes in Europe are prompting brands to evaluate long-term waste liabilities and recycled-content targets, pushing circular materials from a sustainability aspiration towards a sourcing requirement.

Circ currently produces at demonstration scale at its Virginia factory in the US, but with its soon to be operational full-scale facility in eastern France, Majeranowski said the aim is to both process European textile waste locally and to support large-volume commercial production of Circ’s recycled fibers, a move that might even give brands a financial benefit.

“It’s promising,” said Majeranowski “As we continue to expand Fiber Club, and as interest continues to expand, those are very positive indicators…not just for our production in France, but for beyond.”

Learn more:

Fashion’s Recycling Start-Ups Inch Closer to Commercialisation

Over the last month, a flurry of companies with backers from H&M to Inditex have advanced plans to build their first industrial-scale textile-to-textile recycling plants, advancing a technology that is often held up as a holy-grail-like solution to many of fashion’s environmental ills.

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