Recycling: US firm Circ partners with Indian manufacturer Arvind

American textile recycling specialist Circ and Indian textile giant Arvind Limited have announced a strategic partnership. Arvind has committed to integrating the circular materials generated by Circ, thereby helping Circ to secure offtake as it scales.

Circ operates via a patented hydrothermal process that uses heat and pressure with minimal chemicals. The company claims the ability to separate and recover the polyester and cotton that make up polycotton, the most common fabric blend in apparel.

Under the agreement between the companies, Arvind Limited has committed to integrating recycled polyesters and cellulosic fibres (chemically transformed plant fibres) into its offering for five years. This is an important step for Circ, as Arvind manufactures for major brands including U.S. Polo Assn., Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, Izod and Hanes.

“This partnership opens a new chapter in the textile industry, where scale and sustainability go hand in hand,” said Circ CEO Peter Majeranowski. “By joining forces with one of the world’s largest textile players, we are making textile fibres accessible to a wider range of brands and paving the way for circularity on a truly commercial scale.”

In the spring, Circ announced plans to deploy in 2028 a €450 million recycling unit dedicated to polycotton (a blend of polyester and cotton) which will be located in Saint-Avold (Moselle), France.

Together with the Swedish company Circulose (formerly Renewcell), Swedish peer Syre, and the Turkish firm Re&Up (a subsidiary of the Sanko Group), Circ formed in March a lobbying group called the T2T Alliance to represent textile recycling specialists in dealings with European public authorities.