#Recycling / Circular Economy

2025-08-20

matterr welcomes BESTSELLER as new investor to scale polyester recycling

matterr, the German cleantech company pioneering polyester recycling, announces a strategic partnership with family-owned international fashion group BESTSELLER. The investment, made through BESTSELLER’s innovation and investment platform Invest FWD, follows a major EU commitment of 30 million euros in public support through the EFRE/JTF program in North Rhine-Westphalia. Together, these milestones lay the foundation for matterr’s first small-scale industrial plant and the subsequent international scale-up of its technology.

Breaking down polyester, integrating it seamlessly into existing supply chains

matterr has developed an innovative technology for the chemical recycling of polyester from hard-to-recycle textiles and packaging waste. The process delivers drop-in ready raw materials, identical to virgin quality, and is now set to scale.

(c) 2025 - matterr and BESTSELLER collaborate to scale polyester recycling. matterr has developed an innovative technology for the chemical recycling of polyester from hard-to-recycle textiles and packaging waste, delivering drop-in ready raw materials, identical to virgin quality.

By replacing virgin PET production from fossil feedstocks, it substantially reduces greenhouse gas emissions – making a direct contribution to industrial decarbonisation.

Industrial deployment in Germany

With combined financial support from the EU and BESTSELLER, matterr will start building its small-scale industrial plant in Germany in 2026. Once completed, the facility is designed to process 10,000 tonnes of polyesterrich waste annually, creating a reliable source of drop-in ready feedstock for the textile and packaging industries. “Scaling breakthrough technologies requires strong and pragmatic partners,” says Melanie Hackler, CEO of matterr. “With BESTSELLER, we share not only mindset and values, but also the belief that drop-in ready, scalable and economically viable solutions are the business models of the future. This partnership accelerates our mission to make polyester a resource that can be recycled repeatedly.”

A shared ambition to transform the industry

For BESTSELLER, the investment aligns with its broader ambition to decouple from fossil resources and increase the use of recycled materials in fashion. Through Invest FWD, BESTSELLER has invested more than DKK 200 million in innovative companies aiming to create the materials of the future and drive systemic change. “matterr is a young company with an interesting solution that aims to be implemented on a large scale to benefit the entire fashion industry. We believe in the scalability of their technology as well as the commercial potential of the company. This can ensure the right impact in the long run. BESTSELLER has clear ambitions to reduce dependency from fossil sources, and utilisation of recycled polyester is a crucial component in achieving this,” says Dorte Rye Olsen, Head of Sustainability,

BESTSELLER. “Moreover, our investments in innovative recycling technologies align with the fashion industry’s vision of transforming consumers' worn-out garments into raw materials for new clothing. Given the vast number of garments used globally today, it is essential that we take on our responsibility and utilise discarded materials repeatedly.”

By joining forces, matterr and BESTSELLER demonstrate how collaboration between technology innovators and global brands can unlock the needed transition.

matterr at K – Where innovation meets industry

At this year’s K trade fair, matterr took the stage to showcase its technology and demonstrate how it drives circular polyester at an industrial scale. Insightful conversations, strong new connections, and great energy — all together reminds how powerful it is when innovation meets industry. The momentum from Düsseldorf shows: circular transformation is no longer a vision — it’s happening.

Recycling pioneer matterr to build plant at Chemiepark Knapsack

matterr is establishing operations at Chemiepark Knapsack. The planned small-scale industrial depolymerisation plant will be located in the Hürth section of the site and will have an annual capacity of 10,000 tonnes. The facility marks an important step toward a fossil-free, circular PET industry. Groundbreaking is scheduled for 2026.

HKRITA signs MoU with Jeanologia and Looptworks to establish the Green Machine Circular Textile Ecosystem

The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) yesterday officially signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two key global partners, Jeanologia and Looptworks, to establish the Green Machine Circular Textile Ecosystem – a first-of-its-kind collaboration to accelerate the large-scale recycling of blended textiles.

Object Carpet tests production of rPET BCF yarn on Neumag BCF line

In a joint project with Object Carpet GmbH, Denkendorf; the Institute for Textile Technology (ITA), Augsburg; and Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH (NGR), Feldkirchen, Austria, Barmag investigated the processing of recycled polyester for BCF yarn. The goal was to evaluate the fundamental suitability of 100% recycled carpet material for reuse in carpet yarn production to create a closed-loop system in carpet manufacturing. To date, commercial rPET BCF processes have been based solely on rPET from bottle pellets.

Albany International reports progress with Cyclezyme on industrial textile recycling project

Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) reports continued progress in the ongoing project with Cyclezyme AB, a leader in advanced enzyme-based plastic recycling, based in Sweden. The project exemplifies leading edge innovation in materials science, focusing on the development of enzyme-based recycling of industrial textiles primarily consisting of polyester and polyamide, where there is currently a significant lack of effective solutions for circular material flows. The objective of the project is to establish enzymatic processes for depolymerization and recycling of technical textiles and high-performance industrial materials.

The textile industry in transition

Recycling, traceability, eco-design and digitalisation are among the key future challenges facing the European textile industry. The Erasmus+ project Skills4Circularity, involving 21 partners from twelve countries, is investigating the skills required to address these challenges. As the German industry partner, the Industry Association for Finishing – Yarns – Fabrics – Technical Textiles (IVGT) is bringing the industry’s perspective to the project.

2026 general meeting of the Friends and Supporters of RWTH Aachen at ITA

The Friends and Supporters of RWTH Aachen e. V. (proRWTH) looked back on a successful year of support at their 2026 general meeting. The meeting took place at Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen and was combined with a joint session of the Executive Board and the Administrative Board. Before the general meeting began, participants were given a guided tour of ITA, providing them with fascinating insights into current research and development topics in textile engineering.

Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brings supply chain leaders together around cotton innovation

Cotton Incorporated’s Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brought together more than 300 industry leaders from 140 companies across 10 countries, including more than 45 top global brands and sourcing organizations, underscoring strong global interest in cotton-rich product development, sourcing and supply chain collaboration.

Footwear innovation enabled by warp knitting technology– insights from New Balance

The future of the athletic shoe is increasingly being shaped on warp knitting machines. For KARL MAYER, the footwear industry is one of the most important growth markets – and one of the sectors where innovative textiles can realize their full potential. In his keynote address at the opening of KARL MAYER’s TEXTILE INNOVATION CENTER in Obertshausen in April, Vishnu Prakash Muthusamy, Senior Textile and Materials Engineer at New Balance, explained the opportunities that warp knitting technology opens up for performance, sustainability, and faster development processes, and why textile manufacturers are transitioning from suppliers to development partners.