The global textile industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Rising volumes of textile waste, increasing regulatory pressure and growing demand for sustainable products are accelerating the need for scalable circular solutions. Textile-to-textile recycling is not new, yet less than 1% of used textiles are recycled back into new ones. This is primarily due to technological complexity, the availability of low-cost virgin materials and often fragmented, hard-to-verify recycling claims in the market. Over the coming years, Recycling Powerhouse intends to industrialize, standardize and scale textile recycling by establishing a global network of textile recycling plants capable of converting post- and pre-consumer textile waste into certified recycled yarns on an unprecedented industrial scale.

Recycling Powerhouse will act as a global integrator and franchisor across the textile recycling value chain, providing standardized recycling concepts, technologies, operating procedures, digital solutions, audit services and technical support to franchise partners worldwide. Franchise partners will gain access to Recycling Powerhouse’s proven recycling solutions, engineering know-how, training programs and operational support systems. Yarns produced by franchisees will be marketed under an established brand. Recycling Powerhouse will ensure quality through auditing, certification and full end-to-end traceability across the value chain.

As part of this venture, Rieter is contributing its tearing and spinning expertise for short-staple fibers. The tearing machine converts fabric clips into fibers preserving fiber quality far better than conventional technologies – a critical factor in enabling industrial-scale recycling and high-quality yarn production. The tearing machine complements Rieter’s end-to-end spinning systems technology.

Valvan, a global leader in sorting technology, contributes leading textile sorting equipment and know-how, including the automated and AI-based textile sorting machine Fibersort, as well as Trimclean, a system designed to prepare fabric clips for tearing.

The first recycling blueprint facility and franchise operation will launch in early 2027 in Qatar in cooperation with Suhail Industrial Holding Group. Suhail has firmly established itself as a leader in the recycling of metals, steel and plastic in the Middle East and other regions, and with this move is extending its operations into textile recycling. The facility will serve as a global reference model, demonstrating how industrial-scale textile recycling can become commercially viable while supporting circular economy goals. Suhail Industrial Holding Group is already planning additional plants worldwide, with the ambition to become a global leader in textile recycling.

Noel Norking, Managing Director of Recycling Powerhouse: “Our mission is to make textile recycling simple, scalable and accessible to investors, so they can turn the textile industry’s tectonic shifts into monumental opportunity while helping to solve the world’s growing textile waste problem.”

Thomas Oetterli, CEO of Rieter Group: “With Recycling Powerhouse Ltd., we are bringing our greatest strengths to one of the world’s most pressing issues: textile waste. By combining leading-edge spinning technology, decades of recycling expertise and advanced traceability solutions, the venture creates a strategic platform to unlock new growth opportunities across machinery sales, engineering services, recycling technologies and recycled yarn markets.”

Stefan Hutter, owner of Säntis Textiles: “Yarn manufacturing is fundamental to successful textile-to-textile recycling. We will bring together the full know-how of Rieter’s systems technology to create a powerful yarn brand with real potential to transform textile recycling.”

Frank Vandeputte, owner of the Valvan Group: “At the heart of any effective recycling system is the ability to separate pure fractions from waste streams. We are proud to bring our advanced and specialized sorting technology to the textile industry and help pave the way to solving the global challenge of textile waste.”

Sheikh Khalid Ahmed Mubarak Al Thani, Chairman of Suhail Industrial Holding Group in Qatar: “Recycling Powerhouse brings together deep textile expertise and cutting-edge engineering to help us realize our vision of a sustainable, competitive and resilient future where there is no textile waste.”