Amazon-backed Accelerating Circularity starts polyester recycling trials

A new polyester recycling trial by Accelerating Circularity is set to launch, looking to bring post-consumer polyester waste back into textile manufacturing.

Entitled ‘Accelerating Circularity Europe’, the initiative, which is backed by Target, Walmart, Inditex, Zalando and Amazon, according to WWD, will begin the trial in Europe and has been set as a circular fashion priority in the eyes of European policymakers. Counting over 80 contributing members, the initiative will intentionally build on the European Commission’s goal of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, while also linking to its promise to reinvent textile products by 2030.

In a statement to WWD, the organisation’s founder and president, Karla Magruder, said: “The circular textiles ecosystem will be thriving, driven by sufficient capacities for innovative fibre-to-fibre recycling, while the incineration and landfilling of textiles will be reduced to the minimum.”

Additionally, the organisation is also planning to carry out trials for a handful of circular knits and woven fabrics, with the goal of scaling similar innovations.