Reju has secured €135 million in funding from the Dutch government’s NIKI program, marking a transformative milestone for the commercialization of textile-to-textile regeneration. The capital is earmarked for the development of ‘Regeneration Hub One’ at the Chemelot Industrial Park in the Netherlands, a facility designed to divert post-consumer textile waste from landfills and incineration at an unprecedented scale. This investment follows Reju's January 2026 site selection in Rochester, New York, effectively establishing a transatlantic infrastructure for circular fibers. By utilizing advanced molecular depolymerization technology, the hub aims to process the equivalent of 300 million garments annually, translating into a production capacity of approximately 50,000 tons of regenerated BHET (rBHET) for repolymerization into high-quality polyester.
Bridging the carbon gap in synthetic fiber production
The technical significance of Reju’s output lies in its environmental performance; the resulting ‘Reju Polyester’ delivers a 50 per cent lower carbon footprint compared to virgin, fossil-based alternatives. This award represents a critical vote of confidence in our ability to deliver circular raw materials at scale, states Patrik Frisk, CEO, Reju. The 2026 market dynamics - characterized by a projected $7.36 billion global textile recycling valuation - are increasingly favoring such chemical recycling methods over traditional mechanical processes. While mechanical recycling currently holds a 73 per cent market share due to lower costs, chemical regeneration offers superior fiber integrity, allowing polyester to be recycled multiple times without quality degradation.
Traceability and the Digital Product Passport frontier
As the European Union moves toward mandatory separate textile waste collection and the implementation of Digital Product Passports (DPP), Reju is positioning its hubs as essential nodes for fully traceable supply chains. The integration at Chemelot provides access to a mature industrial ecosystem, enabling the brand to streamline logistics and energy efficiency. However, the sector still faces a significant supply-demand gap; even with these new capacities, analysts estimate that total global output will meet less than 10 per cent of the 11-million-ton potential for textile-to-textile recycling over the next decade. For global apparel brands, Reju’s scaling represents a vital opportunity to secure nearshore, sustainable fiber supplies amidst escalating geopolitical and regulatory pressures.
Industrial regeneration strategy
Reju is a materials science leader specializing in molecular polyester regeneration. Owned by Technip Energies and utilizing IBM Research technology, the company operates across European and North American markets. Reju aims to establish a global network of circular hubs, targeting high double-digit capacity growth through 2030 to replace virgin fossil-based inputs.
