Primark’s recycled polyester initiative with Circ is ‘significant’

Fashion/lifestyle giant Primark has announced a long-term partnership with global textile-to-textile recycling specialist Circ to introduce recycled polyester made from textile waste into the retailer’s clothing in 2029.

It called the agreement a “significant step towards bringing this next-generation material to Primark customers at both scale and an affordable price.”

Primark said its “first multi-year offtake agreement with a textile-to-textile recycler… builds on ambitions of the value retailer to strengthen circularity across its business and supply chain.”

The recycled polyester supplied under this agreement will be produced at Circ’s commercial facility, supporting the company’s first industrial-scale textile-to-textile recycling facility. The commercial facility will also source textile feedstock globally, including post-consumer and post-industrial waste. Global sourcing will occur from several locations including the valorisation of European textile waste, they noted.

Through its Primark Cares strategy, Primark said it is focused on keeping clothes and materials in use for longer and reducing waste. This includes embedding circular design principles into product development and helping customers extend the life of their clothes through reuse and repair initiatives.

Circ’s patented technology is designed to recycle polycotton blended textiles, one of the fashion industry’s most widely used and historically difficult-to-recycle material streams.

Director of Primark Cares, Lynne Walker, said: “This partnership is an important milestone in accelerating our ambitions to further embed circularity in our business and help scale innovative textile-to-textile recycling solutions that could play a transformational role in the future of fashion.”