The round was led by the Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) with additional investment from Inditex, Milliken & Company and Lansdowne Partners.

Circ’s patented hydrothermal process enables mixed polymer streams – specifically any blend of polyester and cotton – to be seperated and recovered and the company already has a partnership focused on its rapid scaling with Andritz.

“This is a springboard to rapid, large-scale manufacturing success,” said CEO Peter Majeranowski. “With this investment round, we’ve secured suppliers, purchasers and major financial stakeholders. We already have all the clothing we need to make all the clothing we’ll ever need. Now, alongside our partners, we can make recycled garments accessible to every shopper.”

Circ’s technology has already caught the attention of major brands and organisations, including early investors Patagonia, Marubeni and Fashion for Good. This latest round of funding will help the company complete its engineering work for larger-scale facilities while continuing commercial launches with key partners. Funds will also be used to add core team members in engineering, R&D, management and business development.

“The textiles industry is estimated to account for over 1 Gt of CO2-equivalent emissions per year, the largest portion of which comes from raw materials,” said Carmichael Roberts of BEV. “BEV was founded to drive innovative solutions – like the technology Circ has created – that will reduce and eliminate greenhouse emissions as quickly as possible. Recycling can reduce emissions associated with deriving textile raw materials. Most textiles, however, are blends, which are difficult to separate and recycle. We see Circ’s ability to recycle blended textiles as a significant breakthrough that can help us to achieve our global carbon goals by reducing the carbon intensity of textile raw materials.”

www.circ.earth