Reju selects Lacq, France for textile regeneration hub, advancing circular polyester production and strengthening Europe’s low-carbon textile infrastructure.
Reju has announced the selection of Lacq, located in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region of southwestern France, as the site for its new industrial-scale Regeneration Hub. The facility will be established on the Induslacq platform, reinforcing France’s growing position as a leader in circular and low-carbon industrial innovation. As a company owned by Technip Energies, Reju is deepening its footprint in its home country while advancing its broader mission of transforming global textile waste into valuable regenerated materials.
The announcement comes at a time when the global textile industry faces mounting environmental pressures. Each year, approximately 121 million tons of textiles are discarded worldwide. Yet, despite increasing awareness around sustainability, only about 1% of this material is recycled back into new garments. The overwhelming majority is sent to landfills or incinerated, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and resource depletion. Reju aims to address this critical challenge by scaling advanced textile-to-textile regeneration solutions that enable true circularity in polyester production.
The planned Regeneration Hub in Lacq will leverage Reju’s proprietary depolymerization technology. This advanced process will use post-consumer textiles sourced from national waste streams as feedstock. Through chemical treatment, the facility will convert textile waste into rBHET (regenerated bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate), a high-quality raw material suitable for producing new polyester. The rBHET will subsequently be repolymerized into Reju PET, enabling the creation of new polyester fibers derived entirely from recycled textile waste. By focusing on textile-to-textile regeneration rather than downcycling into lower-value products, Reju aims to close the loop on polyester fiber use and significantly reduce the industry’s reliance on virgin fossil-based resources.
The project remains subject to a final investment decision by the board of Technip Energies. Once approved and constructed, the facility is expected to generate approximately 80 direct jobs and more than 300 indirect jobs, contributing to regional economic development. Beyond job creation, the project is expected to help structure a new local industrial ecosystem centered on circularity and decarbonization, reinforcing France’s strategic ambitions in sustainable manufacturing.
Patrik Frisk, CEO of Reju, emphasized that the French Regeneration Hub represents a critical step in industrializing a circular post-consumer textile model. By aligning with France’s ambitious circular economy policies and extending its technological capabilities into new markets, Reju aims to transform textile waste into a valuable and traceable resource stream.
The Lacq project complements Reju’s broader international expansion strategy. The company has already established Regeneration Hub Zero in Frankfurt and previously announced site selections in Chemelot, Sittard-Geleen in the Netherlands, as well as a United States hub planned for Eastman Business Park in Rochester, New York. Together, these initiatives are designed to create a scalable, interconnected circular infrastructure across Europe and North America.
The new facility will be located on the Induslacq industrial platform owned by TotalEnergies. Audrey Le-Bars, CEO of Chemparc, highlighted that Lacq’s selection reflects the attractiveness of the region’s industrial basin and the collaborative efforts of state authorities, local governments, and industry partners. She noted that the project marks a new milestone in advancing a low-carbon circular economy within the Lacq Basin and reaffirmed Chemparc’s commitment to supporting its successful implementation.
