Circ and Huafon will build a textile recycling facility inside Huafon's industrial footprint in China, with a first phase designed to process roughly 200 metric tonnes of polycotton textile waste per day. The two companies, together with selected investors, are jointly funding the project. Neither party disclosed the investment amount or a construction timeline.

The plant will run Circ's proprietary technology to recover recycled purified terephthalic acid (PTA), recycled monoethylene glycol (MEG) and recycled cellulosic pulp from blended polycotton waste streams. Circ frames the output as a closed-loop feedstock system: polyester and cellulose recovered at the site would flow back into new textile products rather than into downcycled applications.

Who brings what to the deal?

The division of labour is explicit. Circ supplies the process technology, its relationships with global brands and its downstream customer base. Huafon supplies the industrial site, engineering, procurement and logistics capacity needed to build and run the facility at commercial scale.

Circ CEO Peter Majeranowski positioned China as the logical location. "China is at the centre of global textile production, making it a critical location for scaling textile-to-textile recycling," he said. "Huafon brings the industrial capabilities, experience, and investment to move quickly and build a platform that can scale well beyond this first site."

Huafon is not a newcomer to materials manufacturing. The company counts more than 30 years in the sector and has expanded internationally through acquisitions, including the former DuPont Biomaterials business, now operating as Covation Biomaterials. That footprint gives Huafon customer relationships and operations that extend beyond China — relevant for brands seeking recycled feedstock with auditable, multi-region supply.

Feifeng You, vice president of Huafon and chairman of Huafon Microfibre Shanghai Tech Co., said: "Circ has developed one of the most promising textile-to-textile recycling technologies we have seen, and Huafon is ready to help bring it to market. By combining Circ's innovation with our industrial strength and investment, we can turn textile waste into high-quality materials at a scale the industry needs."

How large is the planned capacity?

The confirmed figure covers the first phase only: around 200 metric tonnes of textile waste per day. The companies say further capacity increases are anticipated under a long-term development strategy, but they have not published phase-two volumes, commissioning dates or capital expenditure. For sourcing teams, the 200-tonne daily throughput offers a first yardstick for estimating potential feedstock availability of recycled PTA, MEG and cellulosic pulp once the plant comes online.

The partners also intend, in later phases, to engage brands, supply-chain partners and downstream buyers to expand both capacity and commercial offtake. No offtake agreements have been announced so far.

Why does the policy timing matter?

The project lands inside the policy window of China's 15th Five-Year Plan, which calls for a circular economy through stronger waste management, increased recycling of high-quality materials and lower-carbon industrial activity. That alignment may ease permitting and regulatory friction for a chemical recycling operation handling large waste volumes, though the companies did not cite specific incentives.

For apparel brands and their suppliers, the announcement signals a second major textile-to-textile recycling platform scaling in Asia. Chemical recycling of polycotton blends addresses one of the hardest waste streams in apparel, and recovered PTA and MEG can substitute for virgin PET inputs in polyester production.

The open questions are the ones buyers will press first: commissioning date, certified volumes, cost per tonne against virgin equivalents, and certification status under standards such as recycled content and chemical safety schemes. The companies confirmed none of these details in the announcement, which remains an intention with a headline capacity figure rather than a measured result.

Circ and Huafon say they will publish further detail as construction phases progress, and the first site is intended as a platform that subsequent facilities can replicate.