#Recycling / Circular Economy

2025-03-27

PUMA and RE&UP announce a multi-year collaboration to scale circular textile solution

Sports company PUMA and RE&UP Recycling Technologies have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to scale a fully circular textile solution, transforming textile waste into RE&UP’s Next-Gen Recycled Cotton Fibers and Recycled Polyester Chips. Circularity is one of the focus areas of PUMA’s Vision 2030 sustainability goals and the company has already scaled up its RE:FIBRE textile-to-textile recycling program, producing millions of football jerseys made out of an increasing share of recycled textiles.

RE&UP has become a key Next-Gen raw material partner in the RE:FIBRE program supporting PUMA’s ambition to reduce reliance on bottle-recycled polyester, enhancing true circularity while minimizing textile waste. Due to its previous success, this collaboration has now evolved into a broader global commitment to fully enabling circularity.

As part of the expansion, PUMA will introduce RE:FIBRE to the Americas, leveraging RE&UP’s recycled raw materials within its local supply chain. Both companies have a long-term commitment to scaling sustainable solutions in the textile industry. By 2030, PUMA aims to use 30% fiber-to-fiber recycled polyester fabric for its apparel products. RE&UP’s revolutionary recycling technology is a key enabler of the circular transition of the industry, especially due to its unique capability to process diverse textile feedstocks, including post-consumer and post-industrial waste, as well as complex blended textiles like polycotton and polyester-elastane-materials, traditionally difficult to recycle.

Powered with 100% renewable energy and leveraging advanced technologies such as decolorization processes, RE&UP sets a new benchmark for sustainable, low-impact recycled textile fibers. “As part of our Vision 2030 goals, we want to have 30% of our polyester fabric in apparel fiber-to-fiber recycled by 2030 and our collaboration with RE&UP opens exciting possibilities for integrating virgin-equivalent recycled materials into our products,” said Howard Williams, Director Global Innovation Apparel & Accessories at PUMA. “These materials offer the performance we need while helping us achieve our circularity goals.”

“We are proud to elevate our collaboration with PUMA to the next level, building on our existing work through PUMA’s RE:FIBRE program,” said Özgür Atsan, Chief Commercial Officer at RE&UP.

“PUMA, as one of the most forward-thinking brands in the industry, shares our vision for closing the recycled material gap. The proven quality of our products, our ability to process diverse textile compositions, our annual capacity of 80,000 tons, and our commitment to renewable energy reinforces our mission to produce Next-Gen materials and establish circularity as the standard for the textile industry. We proudly define our products as Next-Gen materials, as they are designed to meet the needs of the next generation in the textile industry.”

Industrial scale meets verified governance: RE&UP is now B Corp™ certified

RE&UP, the circular-tech transforming global textile waste into high-volume Next-Gen materials, has officially become a Certified B Corporation™. The milestone establishes the industrial recycler among a select group of manufacturing infrastructure providers verified as meeting B Lab Standards for social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.

RE&UP contributes to Global Fashion Summit 2026 circularity discussion

RE&UP contributed to the global conversation on textile circularity at Global Fashion Summit 2026 in Copenhagen, where Fatih Konukoğlu, Chairman of RE&UP and Vice Chairman of Sanko Holding, took part in both the keynote session “The New Rules” and the panel discussion “A Reckoning and Renewal for Circular Horizons”, alongside leaders from H&M Group, Looper Textile Co. and Sourcing Journal.

Managed workwear services are providing a blueprint for the circular textile economy

Managed workwear service providers are demonstrating how commercial success and circularity can go hand in hand by extending garment lifespans through repair, laundering, reuse and recycling, according to “Managed workwear services—a circular textile economy ahead of the game”, a new 14‑page report from the global business information company Textiles Intelligence.

Eco-design as the foundation of circular textiles

Based on the results of an extensive European analysis, the Erasmus+ project Skills4Circularity is currently developing three practice-based training modules covering recycling technologies, eco-design for the circular economy and sustainable manufacturing. This was preceded by a comprehensive company survey and a joint analysis conducted by the project partners under the leadership of IVGT. The results show that the greatest challenges lie not so much in a lack of technology as in skills gaps.

Usha Yarns secures growth equity investment from Fullerton Carbon Action Fund

Usha Yarns Limited (“Usha Yarns”), a producer of high-quality recycled yarns with advanced, well established production processes, announced a growth equity investment from the Fullerton Carbon Action Fund (“Fullerton”), a private equity strategy managed by Fullerton Fund Management that backs established mid-market companies across Emerging Asia to accelerate decarbonisation.

PERFORMANCE DAYS announces new focus topic & forums for October 2026

With its upcoming October 13–14, 2026 edition, PERFORMANCE DAYS is placing the spotlight on one of the textile industry’s most important transformations: “Bio-Based Materials – From Fiber to Fabric”, a two-part Focus Topic exploring the future of bio-based innovation across the textile value chain. Part 1, presented in October 2026, will focus on fibers and next-generation material developments, while Part 2 at the March 2027 edition will shift the perspective toward dyeing, finishing, additives, and processing technologies.

Febratex 2026 to be the largest edition of the leading textile trade fair in the Americas with 10 exhibition halls

Febratex 2026 will be the largest edition in the history of the leading textile trade fair in the Americas. Dedicated to the textile and apparel manufacturing industries, the event will take place from August 18–21, 2026, in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil, with a strong focus on technology, sustainability, and business generation.

Cotton Brazil Dialogues field trip brings international stakeholders closer to Brazil’s cotton production chain

How do you build trust across the global textile value chain? By opening the farm gates. This is the principle behind the Cotton Brazil Dialogues. At the end of July, the programme welcomed its first group of international participants for a five-day immersion into Brazilian cotton production, combining field visits with technical workshops to showcase the quality, sustainability, innovation and traceability behind one of the world’s leading cotton origins.