H&M Group, Vargas Holding and TPG Rise Climate have launched Syre, with the goal of providing recycled polyester yarn that’s equivalent in quality to virgin yarn but has less impact on the planet. The retailer has an offtake agreement with Syre worth $600 million over seven years that will cover a significant share of H&M Group’s long-term need for recycled polyester (rPET), which is currently primarily sourced from bottle-to-textile upcycling.
“The new venture Syre is an important next step on H&M Group’s journey to integrate circularity across our business,” said Daniel Ervér, CEO of H&M Group in a statement. “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 toward a more sustainable future.”
Syre is building a production plant in North Carolina and plans to be operational this year, after which it will scale up the manufacturing process and technology for global expansion. Syre hopes to have 12 plants up and running within 10 years, producing more than 3 million metric tons of recycled polyester.
“Syre marks the start of the great textile shift,” said Dennis Nobelius, CEO of Syre in a statement. “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.”
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Additionally, H&M has strengthened its recycled material goals. The company is moving closer to an initial goal of 30% recycled materials by 2025, and based on its progress, H&M’s new ambition is to reach the 50% recycled materials milestone by 2030. H&M’s overall goal is to have 100% of materials either recycled or sourced more sustainably by 2030.
