One more Step to Scale Polyester Recycling
The German-based company matterr has announced a strategic partnership with family-owned international fashion group Bestseller, headquartered in Denmark. matterr has developed a depolymerization process that breaks down polyester (PET) into its original building blocks – terephthalic acid (TPA) and monoethylene glycol (MEG). “Chemically identical to virgin materials, they can be directly reused in existing textile and packaging production,” the company underlined.
According to matterr, the investment, made through the Danish company’s innovation and investment platform Invest FWD, follows a major EU commitment of 30 million Euro in public support through the EFRE/JTF program in North Rhine-Westphalia. Together, these milestones would lay the foundation for matterr’s first small-scale industrial plant and the subsequent international scale-up of its technology. It is planned that the construction work will begin in 2026. “Once completed, the facility is designed to process 10,000 tons of polyester-rich waste annually, creating a reliable source of drop-in ready feedstock for the textile and packaging industries.” According to Bestseller, through its innovation and investment platform, Invest FWD, the Danish firm has continuously invested in new recycling technologies and focuses on various promising companies within the same business area. “Common to all of them is the difficult – but important – process towards scaling”. As stated by Dorte Rye Olsen, Bestseller’s Head of Sustainability, matterr is a young company with an interesting solution that aims to be implemented on a large scale to benefit the entire fashion industry. “We believe in the scalability of their technology as well as the commercial potential of the company. This can ensure the right impact in the long run.”
(Published in GLOBAL RECYCLING Magazine 3/2025, Page 24, Photo: Bestseller)
