#Recycled Fibers

2026-04-21

Circulose and CTA announce collaboration to enable lyocell fibers using CIRCULOSE® pulp

Circulose has announced an agreement with China Textile Academy Green Fibre (CTA) to offer lyocell fibers produced using CIRCULOSE® pulp. Producing lyocell from recycled pulp at commercial scale is an important step in making textile-to-textile recycled materials available across a wider range of textile applications.

Lyocell fibers are produced through a solvent-based spinning process and are valued for their strength, softness, and sustainability profile. The lyocell process operates in a largely closed-loop system, where the solvent is recovered and reused, making it one of the most environmentally favorable fiber production methods in the industry – even more so when produced from recycled raw material instead of virgin wood.

Through the collaboration, CTA and Circulose will offer brand partners lyocell fibers of both standard and non-fibrillating grades, both produced using CIRCULOSE® pulp.

Supply will be limited in 2026, with the ambition to scale capacity to meet demand during 2027. Commercial volumes in 2026 will be available only to selected brands, while those seeking access in 2027 are invited to engage in product development already now.

In addition to commercializing lyocell made with CIRCULOSE® under Circulose's license model, CTA has committed to purchase a set volume of CIRCULOSE® pulp over the coming years. Leveraging close collaboration between both parties, Circulose will achieve steady enhancements in CIRCULOSE® pulp performance and quality, while CTA will scale up the production capacity of recycled lyocell fibers through optimized manufacturing processes. By ensuring demand certainty for recyclers like Circulose, this kind of commitment enables the investment and scale needed to reduce costs and accelerate the mainstream adoption of circular textile fibers across the industry.

"Lyocell is a more sensitive process than viscose, making the use of recycled pulp more challenging," said Jonatan Janmark, CEO of Circulose. “CTA's ability to produce lyocell from CIRCULOSE® is a strong testament to their technical capabilities, as well as the performance of our pulp. We are very pleased to work with CTA to bring this opportunity to our brand partners and are excited by what it means for the broader adoption of circular materials."

CTA Green Fibre is a producer of lyocell fibers and part of the China General Technology (Group) Holding Co. Ltd., one of China's leading research and industrial platforms for textile innovation. CTA operates commercial-scale lyocell production facilities and has developed proprietary technologies for advanced lyocell fiber variants.

Circulose restarts commercial-scale production at Ortviken plant in Sundsvall

Circulose today announced the restart of its commercial-scale production plant at Ortviken in Sundsvall, Sweden, marking a significant step in scaling next-generation materials for the global fashion industry. The company plans to resume production of CIRCULOSE®, a recycled pulp made entirely from discarded cotton textiles, in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Ence and ShareTex begin initial testing of the ATENEA innovation project to promote textile recycling in Spain

Ence and ShareTex are making progress on the Atenea R&D project, which aims to develop a complete value chain for textile recycling in Spain. Specifically, the goal of the ATENEA project—which is funded by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI)—is to connect all the necessary stages for the recovery of textile waste, from collection and management, through recycling and transformation into new raw materials, to their incorporation into new textile products.

DePoly Inaugurates its Showcase Plant in Monthey Switzerland

What if used plastic bottles, PET packaging material and polyester textiles could become raw materials just as high performing as virgin resources? That is the ambition of DePoly, a circular materials company based in Sion, Switzerland which inaugurated its Showcase Plant in Monthey on July 6th & 7th. The first depolymerization facility of its kind and scale in Switzerland, this industrial Showcase Plant represents a major milestone in the company's growth and its journey toward commercialization.

ReHubs elects new Board of Directors to lead the next phase of ReHubs’ strategy to recycle 2.7 million tonnes of textile waste annually by 2035

ReHubs has elected its new Board of Directors, marking an important milestone as the industry alliance continues to accelerate the industrial scale-up of textile-to-textile recycling across Europe. The election took place during the ReHubs Annual Event in Brussels on June 23rd, held alongside the Textile Recycling Expo and Future Fabrics Expo. The newly elected Board combines expertise from across the textile value chain, reflecting ReHubs' collaborative approach to solving the industry’s textile waste crises.

Dedicated car seat model of SHIMA SEIKI’s P-CAM® R Cutting Machine unveiled

Leading Japanese textile solutions provider SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan, showed a special version of its P-CAM® R multi-ply computerized cutting machine dedicated to the production of car seats for the first time, at a private exhibition held over two days on Thursday, July 2nd and Friday, July 3rd at the Kariya City Industrial Promotion Center in Aichi Prefecture.

ALADIN paves the way for circular and demand-driven textile production in Europe

Textile production can be organized sustainably by utilizing short supply chains and preventing overproduction. This can already be achieved today by intelligently connecting and efficiently utilizing existing infrastructure. At the same time, production becomes circular when innovative technologies and materials are used that enable high-quality recycling. The ALADIN research project, launched in May 2026 and co-funded with five million euros under the EU Horizon Europe program, is creating the conditions for this.

Katharina Obergruber appointed to the Management Board of Sandler AG

The Supervisory Board of Sandler AG has appointed Katharina Obergruber to the company’s Management Board. Effective September 1, 2026, the Board will consist of Philipp Ebbinghaus (CEO), Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck (currently CCO, future COO), and Katharina Obergruber (CCO). Katharina Obergruber, currently Chief Sales Officer Hygiene and member of the Management Team of Sandler AG, will assume responsibility for all sales activities as Chief Commercial Officer. She will assume this role from Dr. Ulrich Hornfeck, who will focus primarily on production and supply chain topics.

Commission clarifies rules on plastic bottles recycling

The European Commission today adopted new rules on recycling of single-use plastic beverage bottles made primarily of polyethylene terephthalate (PET bottles). These rules establish, for the first time, a methodology to calculate, verify and report chemically recycled content. This is part of the Commission’s December 2025 plastics package.