Circulose

Gina Tricot top made with Circulose / Source: Circulose

AsiaCelluloseCirculoseCottonEuropeRecyclableRecycledTextiles

WHAT WE SAY:

You are right to be sceptical when it comes to claims about recycling, especially in fashion where there is so much greenwashing around rPET fibres. However, Circulose is an interesting recycled fibre, as it is formed from cellulose recovered from post-consumer textile waste (primarily cotton).

This natural foundation means no microplastics, no reduction in quality compared with virgin fibres, and ultimately a more circular system. Our main reservation about Circulose? Even with the company’s ambitious growth plans, it will represent less than half a percent of the global textile fibre market by 2030. Despite this, it is definitely a fibre to investigate further.

Circulose

WHAT IS CIRCULOSE?

Circulose is a branded pulp-based product by Swedish startup Renewcell that can be spun into fibre for the textile industry, similar to the pulp used when producing Viscose or Lyocell.
Renewcell uses Cotton textile waste as a feedstock to create its cellulose-based fibres. The company extracts the Cellulose via a solvent-free chemical process, powered by renewable energy.
The resulting fibre is uniquely sourced from 100% recycled textiles, while having the same quality as virgin fibres.
The first retail products made from Circulose debuted in March 2020 as part of H&M’s Conscious Collection and it was also featured in Levi’s iconic 501 range in early 2022; Renewcell also has agreements with leading viscose producers such as Birla Cellulose, Kelheim Fibres and Yibin Hiest.

KEY PROPERTIES:

Recyclable
Recycled

INDUSTRY:

Textiles

AVAILABILITY:

Commercially Available

DIVE DEEPER:

Cotton is the world’s second most used fibre, requiring significant resources to produce. Yet, as the BBC has reported, few clothes are recycled.
Circulose’s raw input material is textile waste, typically sourced from large textile sorters that can supply regular deliveries of high (upwards of 98% purity) cotton content.
Circulose’s pulp and subsequent cellulosic fibre is the output of a multi-stage process. Cotton textile waste is shredded and then ground down. Buttons and zippers are removed mechanically, before the textiles enter a closed loop de-dyeing and chemical wet processing stage. The pulp is then bleached while undergoing further treatments that remove contaminants and separate out the pure cellulose.
As well as being of equivalent quality to virgin fibres, Circulose fibres can be recycled themselves up to seven times, significantly more than most recycled fibres.
According to Renewcell, the production process of its Circulose fibre is powered by 100% renewable energy. The company also highlights how using textile waste reduces the amount of water used when compared with virgin cotton, while mitigating against the deforestation linked to unsustainable viscose production.
The company does not disclose details of its chemical dissolving treatment, simply stating that the chemicals are recycled during the pulping process and that “nothing we add in follows the product or process water out of the plant.”
Renewcell’s production facilities are based in Sweden and adhere to the EU’s Reach environmental regulations, while its viscose producing partners conform with EU BAT for fibre production.
In late 2021, Renewcell announced it had secured multi-year purchasing agreements with three European textile sorters to source textile waste for its Circulose fibre.
In January 2022, Renewcell announced that Chinese viscose producer Yibin Hiest had produced viscose filament yarn on an industrial scale using 100% Circulose pulp for the first time. The company plans to offer this recycled textile-based fibre as a replacement for polyester and Silk in the activewear and luxury segments, respectively.
In March 2022, Renewcell signed a Letter of Intent with Birla Cellulose, one of the world's largest man-made cellulosic fibre producers. Birla Cellulose intends to use up to 30,000 tonnes of Renewcell’s Circulose as a feedstock for production of its Liva Reviva fibres. The company had previously entered into a similar agreement with Kelheim Fibers in October 2021, with the viscose producer planning to use 10,000 tonnes of Circulose material annually.
Renewcell has announced plans to scale its production capacity to 360,000 tonnes by 2025.

H&M dress created using Circulose / Source: Renewcell

Circulose pulp / Source: Renewcell

KEY FACTS:

360,000 tns

Renewcell plans to scale its production capacity to 360,000 tonnes by 2025

100%

Circulose is sourced from 100% recycled textiles, while having the same quality as virgin fibres

10,000tns

In October 2021, Renewcell entered an agreement with viscose producer Kelheim Fibres to use 10,000 tonnes of Circulose annually

Key Questions to Ask:

What actual impact would using Circulose deliver?

There are two answers to this question. First, it is impossible to know detailed quantitative metrics until Renewcell has completed its LCA, although the company points to a Stella McCartney-commissioned LCA analysing a variety of sources of MMCFs, which showed recycled pulp to be the least environmentally impactful. However, the bigger answer is that while promising, the reality is that Circulose will be, at best, a partial solution – both because of its limited availability and because the final products that consumers purchase typically blend Circulose with virgin fibres.

How could you increase that impact?

Rewewcell itself states that “Circulose is no silver bullet.” Designers should be thinking about Circulose as just one part of a bigger shift towards reducing your brand’s environmental footprint, increasing your products’ lifespans, and adopting circular business models.

If Circulose was mainstream, how would you design differently?

Most products in circulation today are created from blended materials. This complicates recycling and requires potentially hazardous chemical processes. However, if textile recycling was commonplace then designers would have more incentive to produce garments that were designed to be recycled efficiently. While the lack of EPR regulations means this remains aspirational at present (and therefore not feasible for most mass-market brands), forward-thinking designers should strive to create the future circular systems we need.

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Circulose

WHAT WE SAY:

You are right to be sceptical when it comes to claims about recycling, especially in fashion where there is so much greenwashing around rPET fibres. However, Circulose is an interesting recycled fibre, as it is formed from cellulose recovered from post-consumer textile waste (primarily cotton).

WHAT IS CIRCULOSE?

KEY PROPERTIES:

INDUSTRY:

AVAILABILITY:

Commercially Available

DIVE DEEPER:

Cotton is the world’s second most used fibre, requiring significant resources to produce. Yet, as the BBC has reported, few clothes are recycled.

Circulose’s raw input material is textile waste, typically sourced from large textile sorters that can supply regular deliveries of high (upwards of 98% purity) cotton content.

As well as being of equivalent quality to virgin fibres, Circulose fibres can be recycled themselves up to seven times, significantly more than most recycled fibres.

The company does not disclose details of its chemical dissolving treatment, simply stating that the chemicals are recycled during the pulping process and that “nothing we add in follows the product or process water out of the plant.”

Renewcell’s production facilities are based in Sweden and adhere to the EU’s Reach environmental regulations, while its viscose producing partners conform with EU BAT for fibre production.

In late 2021, Renewcell announced it had secured multi-year purchasing agreements with three European textile sorters to source textile waste for its Circulose fibre.

Renewcell has announced plans to scale its production capacity to 360,000 tonnes by 2025.

KEY FACTS:

360,000 tns

100%

10,000tns

Key Questions to Ask:

What actual impact would using Circulose deliver?

How could you increase that impact?

If Circulose was mainstream, how would you design differently?

MEET THE MAKERS:

Renewcell

KEY PRODUCTS

LOCATION
Europe

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Circulose

WHAT WE SAY:

You are right to be sceptical when it comes to claims about recycling, especially in fashion where there is so much greenwashing around rPET fibres. However, Circulose is an interesting recycled fibre, as it is formed from cellulose recovered from post-consumer textile waste (primarily cotton).

WHAT IS CIRCULOSE?

KEY PROPERTIES:

INDUSTRY:

AVAILABILITY:

Commercially Available

DIVE DEEPER:

Cotton is the world’s second most used fibre, requiring significant resources to produce. Yet, as the BBC has reported, few clothes are recycled.

Circulose’s raw input material is textile waste, typically sourced from large textile sorters that can supply regular deliveries of high (upwards of 98% purity) cotton content.

As well as being of equivalent quality to virgin fibres, Circulose fibres can be recycled themselves up to seven times, significantly more than most recycled fibres.

The company does not disclose details of its chemical dissolving treatment, simply stating that the chemicals are recycled during the pulping process and that “nothing we add in follows the product or process water out of the plant.”

Renewcell’s production facilities are based in Sweden and adhere to the EU’s Reach environmental regulations, while its viscose producing partners conform with EU BAT for fibre production.

In late 2021, Renewcell announced it had secured multi-year purchasing agreements with three European textile sorters to source textile waste for its Circulose fibre.

Renewcell has announced plans to scale its production capacity to 360,000 tonnes by 2025.

KEY FACTS:

360,000 tns

100%

10,000tns

Key Questions to Ask:

What actual impact would using Circulose deliver?

How could you increase that impact?

If Circulose was mainstream, how would you design differently?

MEET THE MAKERS:

Renewcell

KEY PRODUCTS

LOCATION Europe

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LOCATION
Europe