TEXTILES.ORG
Reju, a textile-to-textile regeneration company based in France, has announced a site for an industrial-sized Regeneration Hub, in Lacq, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, on the Induslacq platform. Reju, a Technip Energies owned company, is deepening its roots in France through the development of this new Regeneration Hub.
Every year, 121 million tons of textiles are discarded, yet only 1 percent are recycled into new garments. The vast majority end up in landfills or are incinerated creating a severe environmental challenge worldwide. Reju is addressing this issue by developing solutions to regenerate textile waste into new materials.
The plant will utilize Reju’s proprietary depolymerization technology to take post-consumer textiles from national waste streams as feedstock and to transform them into rBHET, a regenerated raw material for making new polyester from textile waste, which will then be repolymerized into Reju PET. The project is subject to final investment decision by the board of Technip Energies.
This project confirms France’s position as a pioneer in this strategic sector and will help structure a new local industry, contributing to decarbonization. It would generate 80 direct jobs and more than 300 indirect jobs.
“This French Regeneration Hub builds on our strategy to industrialize a circular post-consumer textile-to-textile model,” said Patrik Frisk, CEO of Reju. “By leveraging France’s ambitious circular-economy agenda and advancing our technology to new markets, we are reinforcing our mission to transform textile waste into valuable, circular resources.”
Through its French Hub, Reju aims to build a scalable circular infrastructure in France and Europe, enabling textile-to-textile traceability and closing the loop on fiber use. The project aligns with Reju’s established operations, including Regeneration Hub Zero in Frankfurt, the announced site selection in Chemelot, Sittard-Geleen the Netherlands, and the recently announced U.S. Hub to be located in Eastman Business Park, Rochester, New York. The Regeneration Hub will be located on the Induslacq platform, owned by TotalEnergies.
Reju utilizes proprietary technology developed in conjunction with IBM Research to recover, regenerate and recirculate textile waste, starting with polyester. Reju actively participates in the work of several bodies and organizations such as ReHubs, Petcore and Evolen. This will create a circular ecosystem, developing a textile-to-textile sector in France in line with European requirements and based on traceability.