Circulose and Jilin Chemical Fiber forge partnership to scale circular Viscose filament yarn

Jilin’s viscose filament yarn, JIRECELL® is made from a blend of 30% CIRCULOSE® and 70% certified wood pulp, with an ambition to increase the recycled content to 50%. After several years of collaboration and market validation, Jilin and Circulose are now scaling up production to meet proven international demand for circular and sustainable viscose filament yarn.

“Our partnership with Jilin is another cornerstone in Circulose’s mission to accelerate fashion’s transition to circularity,” said Jonatan Janmark, CEO of Circulose. “JIRECELL® demonstrates both technical excellence and market readiness. With Jilin’s leadership and global reach, this collaboration paves the way for an ambitious scale up of viscose filament yarn made with CIRCULOSE®, while helping us to ensure the necessary volume for our factory.”

Jilin is taking a global leadership role in circularity by making a firm commitment to purchase annually increasing volumes of CIRCULOSE® pulp. To fulfill this commitment, any CIRCULOSE® pulp not used in JIRECELL® production will be blended in lower concentrations across Jilin’s wider fiber portfolio. This is in line with the work Jilin has been doing with Canopy, a solutions driven not-for-profit organization, to transition away from dependence on Ancient and Endangered Forest inputs and towards circular cellulose for the fashion sector. As the first fiber producer globally to pursue this approach, Jilin is setting ambitious targets to increase the share of recycled pulp in their production. By ensuring demand certainty for recyclers like Circulose, this approach enables the investment and scale needed to lower costs and accelerate the mainstream adoption of next-gen textile fibers across the industry.

“We have been working with CIRCULOSE® for many years and we have full confidence in its performance and market potential,” said Jin Dong-Jie, General Manager of Jilin Chemical. “With this commitment, we are proud to set a global benchmark for textile circularity. Together with Circulose, we will lead the industry toward a future where recycled fibers are the norm.”

This partnership marks a milestone for Circulose’s strategy to restart large-scale production and drive broader impact in global textile supply chains. By combining Circulose’s world-leading recycling technology with Jilin’s innovation in viscose filament yarn, JIRECELL® is set to accelerate the industry’s transition to circular and renewable textiles at scale.