STOCKHOLM – March 6, 2024. Initiated by Vargas and H&M Group, Syre today launches to decarbonize and dewaste the textile industry through textile-to-textile recycling at hyperscale, starting with polyester. Supported by an industry groundbreaking offtake supply agreement with H&M Group, Syre will establish multiple production plants producing circular polyester across the globe, reducing CO₂e emissions by up to 85% compared to the production of oil-based virgin polyester.

“Syre marks the start of the great textile shift. We envision a world where every textile fiber sees a new day. By implementing true textile-to-textile recycling at hyperscale, we want to drive the transition from a linear to a circular value chain by putting textile waste to use, over and over again,” says Dennis Nobelius, CEO of Syre.

Textile waste is a growing global challenge, with less than 1% of the global textile fiber market coming from recycled textiles. The textile industry today accounts for 7-10% of global CO₂e emissions, with polyester being the biggest emitter and fastest growing fiber. Virgin polyester, made from crude oil in refineries, and bottle-to-fiber recycled polyester (rPET), are both linear meaning the majority of all end-of-life products currently end up in landfills or being incinerated. The textile industry is now at a tipping point as the European Union and other actors are introducing legislation that will regulate waste and accelerate demand for circular materials.

Targeting a new industry vertical with our proven model for building impact companies

“Syre is Vargas’ fifth venture and an important milestone towards our vision of directly and indirectly decarbonizing 1% of global emissions. Applying our proven model for building impact companies from the ground up, we are now targeting a new industry vertical where we can enable circularity, reduce textile waste and substantially bring down emissions,” says Carl-Erik Lagercrantz, CEO of Vargas and board member of Syre.

Syre is founded by H&M Group, the global fashion and design company, and Vargas, who has a proven track-record of building impact companies such as Northvolt, H2 Green Steel and Aira. In addition to this, TPG Rise Climate, the dedicated climate investing strategy of global alternative asset manager TPG, has joined as a founding investor with a substantial investment, bringing extensive experience scaling climate solutions globally and in companies focused on the circular economy.

H&M Group has secured an offtake agreement with Syre worth a total of USD 600 million over 7 years, covering a significant share of H&M Group’s long-term need for recycled polyester, which is currently primarily sourced from bottle-to-fiber (rPET).

Syre will provide textile-to-textile circular polyester (cPET), with quality on par with oil-based virgin polyester and with a superior sustainability performance, reducing CO₂e emissions by up to 85%. Its first production plant is being built in North Carolina, USA, and will be operational during 2024. Based on this blueprint, the manufacturing process will be rapidly scaled for global expansion, starting with Asia and Europe.

Within ten years, Syre aspires to have 12 giga-scale plants up and running at full speed and capacity worldwide, producing more than 3 million metric tons (MT) of circular polyester. The platform is agnostic and could expand into other fibers and technologies in the future.

As a plug and play solution into the existing textile value chain, Syre will be key in enabling delivery on ambitious sustainability targets for all polyester intense industries such as apparel, automotive, and home interior. In connection to the launch, Syre calls out for collaboration and partnerships across industries and the full value chain in order to jointly drive the textile shift and enable a healthy future of textiles.

About Syre

Syre is a textile impact company on a mission to decarbonize and dewaste the textile industry through textile-to-textile recycling at hyperscale, starting with polyester. At unprecedented speed and scale, Syre aims at driving the green shift of the textile industry to a future where every textile fiber sees a new day. The company’s textile-to-textile recycling solution provides circular polyester with quality on par with virgin polyester, but with a superior sustainability performance. Founded in 2023, Syre is initiated by Vargas and H&M Group. The name translates to oxygen in Swedish and is a combination of sy (Swedish for sewing) and re (Latin for over and over again).

For more information: www.syre.com

About Vargas

Vargas is a long-term investor and an active owner of purpose-led companies. Together with bold entrepreneurs, Vargas build companies from the ground up to realize ideas that General Information push boundaries for a sustainable future. Vargas was founded in 2014 in Sweden. The company has started with green batteries, steel, hydrogen and clean energy-tech solutions. Polarium, Northvolt, H2 Green Steel and Aira are its first impact companies – all with the aim to establish regional or global leadership.

For more information: www.vargasholding.com