The H&M Group has launched a new venture to scale up its intake of textile-to-textile recycled polyester. It is a co-founded venture with Vargas Holding, and is also backed by TPG Rise Climate.
- The H&M Group has secured an offtake agreement with Syre worth a total of $600 million over seven years, covering a significant share of the Group’s long-term need for recycled polyester, which is at present primarily sourced from rPET bottle-to-textile.
THE AMBITIONS: According to H&M, it has also strengthened its recycled material ambition, which it says is an important part of the strategy to “decouple growth from virgin resource use.”
- The Group’s material ambition is to have 100% of materials to be either recycled or sourced in a “more sustainable way” by 2030, with the subgoal of 30% recycled materials by 2025.
- As the company is moving closer to achieving the target of 30 percent recycled materials by 2025, the ambition is to now aim for 50% recycled by 2030.
THE NEW VENTURE: Syre will aim to provide a recycled polyester yarn with equivalent quality to virgin polyester, but with a “lower impact on the planet.”
- Syre is building a production plant in North Carolina, United States, with the intention of being operational during 2024. From there, the manufacturing process and technology will be scaled up for global expansion.
- Within ten years, Syre aspires to have 12 plants up and running at full speed and capacity across the world, producing more than three million metric tons of recycled polyester.
WHAT THEY SAID:
Syre is an important next step on H&M Group’s journey to integrate circularity across our business. With this solution to rapidly scale textile-to-textile recycling, we want to continue to drive and inspire more industry players to join us in closing the loop and accelerating the shift towards a more sustainable future.
— Daniel Ervér
Chief Executive Officer
H&M Group
Syre marks the start of the great textile shift. We envision a world where every textile fiber sees a new day. By implementing true textile-to-textile recycling at hyperscale, we want to drive the transition from a linear to a circular value chain by putting textile waste to use, over and over again.
— Dennis Nobelius
Chief Executive Officer
Syre
