French materials recycling company Reju, led by former Under Armour CEO Patrik Frisk, plans to open its first U.S.-based industrial facility in Rochester, NY, aiming to regenerate 300 million articles annually.
The plans were unveiled by the office of New York Governor Kathy Hochul. The facility will receive support from a state grant and tax credits.
The $390 million textile regeneration hub will be located on an 18.9-acre vacant lot at Eastman Business Park in the City of Rochester. Following remediation of the site, Reju plans to construct a 145,000-square-foot facility where it will use proprietary technology developed with IBM Research to regenerate textile waste, starting with polyester, into its Reju Polyester, which has a reported “50 percent lower carbon footprint than virgin polyester and is engineered to be recyclable multiple times, reducing the industry’s reliance on fossil-based inputs.”…