Prime Highlights:
- Circ, a Virginia-based startup, has developed a process to recycle polyester-cotton blended fabrics into high-quality new fibers.
- Major fashion brands like Allbirds, Zara, and H&M are using Circ’s recycled textiles in some of their products.
Key Facts:
- The fashion industry produces 4% to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet less than 1% of clothing is recycled.
- Circ has raised $100 million from investors including Patagonia, Temasek, and Inditex, and is expanding with its first large-scale recycling plant in France.
Background:
A Virginia-based textile startup is getting attention from major fashion brands for helping make clothing production more eco-friendly. Circ, founded in 2011 in Danville, has developed a way to separate polyester-cotton blended fabrics back into their original fibers. This means old clothes can be turned into new, good-quality materials instead of being thrown away.
The fashion industry produces 4% to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet under 1% of clothing is recycled. Most clothes are blended fabrics that are hard to recycle. Circ’s technology breaks down poly-cotton blends and turns them into new fibers that can be reused in making clothes.
Circ’s recycled fibers are already entering the global supply chain. Well-known brands, including Allbirds, Zara, and H&M, are using Circ-produced materials in select products. Investors such as Patagonia, Temasek, Inditex, Marubeni, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures have demonstrated strong confidence in the company, contributing to a total of $100 million in funding raised so far.
Patagonia, which is both a customer and an investor, views the higher cost of the process as a natural part of scaling a new innovation with long-term environmental impact.
The startup sources old clothing from donations and purchases, processes it, and then sells the recovered fibers back into the manufacturing pipeline. As Circ expands, it is preparing to open its first industrial-scale textile-to-textile recycling plant in France, building on Danville’s historical roots as a former textile manufacturing hub. With large fashion houses adopting its materials, Circ is positioning itself at the center of the push toward a circular fashion economy.
