Reju Signs Six Mills to Scale Regenerated Polyester Supply Chain

Reju has signed six mills across Europe and the Americas to industrialise its regenerated polyester, moving the French materials-regeneration company from pilot production toward commercial fabric supply.

The partners, named on Tuesday, are A. Sampaio, RDD Textiles, Tintex Textiles, FOV Fabrics, Swisstex Direct and Utenos Trikotazas. Each mill brings a distinct capability:

• A. Sampaio (Portugal): circular knitted fabrics
• RDD Textiles (Portugal): recycled-content traceability and environmental compliance certifications
• Tintex Textiles (Portugal): certified recycled-content traceability and environmental compliance
• Swisstex Direct (Los Angeles and El Salvador): sustainable natural and synthetic fibres
• FOV Fabrics (Sweden): vertically integrated high-tech woven production
• Utenos Trikotazas (Lithuania): more than 50 years of textile manufacturing experience

CEO Patrik Frisk said the group gives Reju "access to the manufacturing capabilities necessary" to move regenerated polyester from raw material to finished, market-ready fabric at scale.

What is behind the push?

Reju announced full-scale textile-to-textile recycling facilities earlier this cycle in Sittard-Geleen in the Netherlands, Rochester, New York, and Lacq, France. The mill agreements sit downstream of those plants. The company plans roughly 20 "megafactories" worldwide by 2034 under its Regeneration Hub network.

Frisk framed the build-out as urgent. Textile collectors, sorters and recyclers in North America and Europe face an exponential rise in cheap, low-quality garments. Selling prices no longer cover operational costs. He called the entire sorting system close to "a complete and irrevocable breakdown".

"If the problem looks bad, trust me, we haven't seen the worst of it yet," Frisk told an audience at the Vancouver Art Gallery during Textile Exchange's conference last month. "The tide gets bigger every year. If we wait for it before we start to build some sort of a seawall, we'll probably be too late."

Is technology the bottleneck?

No, according to Frisk. He located the constraint in system economics, not invention.

"The gap isn't technology, and it certainly isn't good intention," he said. "It's a system: collection, sorting, recycling and demand, built at scale with economics that work for everyone in it."

That claim deserves scrutiny. Regenerated polyester at scale still requires verified input streams, functioning sorters and buyers willing to pay a premium or match virgin prices. Reju has confirmed the engineering, capital, sites and partners. It has not named committed brand offtakers. The mill deals cover fabric development and integration, not disclosed purchase volumes or pricing. Until brands sign, demand remains the unproven segment of Frisk's system.

What does this change for sourcing teams?

Frisk addressed that question directly, and pointedly. He told brand representatives the missing piece is them.

"We've lined up everything else: the engineering, the capital, the sites, the partners," he said. "There is one piece missing, and that's most of you. So I'm not here asking for a purchase order. Absolutely not. What I'm asking you to do is just simply sit down and listen, and take a seat in a system that's being built for you."

He tied the ask to extended producer responsibility: brands, he said, are "the ones held responsible for the end of life of products you can't control on your own."

For sourcing directors, the practical decision is narrow. Brands under EU recycled-content and eco-design obligations will need traceable regenerated polyester at volume. Reju now has a named mill base spanning Portugal, Sweden, Lithuania, the US and El Salvador that can convert its output to finished fabric. The open question is price and continuity of supply, neither disclosed this week.

Frisk closed with a challenge: "How ready are we to serve the tsunami?"

Buyers, not builders, will answer it.