Danish fashion giant Bestseller and German clean-tech company matterr have linked up to scale polyester recycling following a “substantial” grant from the EU. Bestseller is investing in the operation through its innovation and investment platform Invest FWD.

matterr is now ready to advance plans on its upcoming factory while Bestseller said the strategic partnership with the German firm is part of its “ongoing investments in the development of future materials”.

Looking at the details, matterr has developed “an innovative technology for the chemical recycling of polyester from hard-to-recycle worn-out textiles and packaging waste. The process delivers drop-in ready raw materials, identical to virgin quality, and is now set to scale”.

It will start building its small-scale industrial plant in 2026 and once completed, the facility is designed to process 10,000 tonnes of polyester-rich waste into virgin-quality raw materials each year.

CEO Melanie Hackler said matterr and Bestseller “share not only mindset and values, but also the belief that true change comes from pragmatic collaboration. Together, we are building a partnership that points towards the business models of the future”.

Bestseller has made multiple recycling technology investments through Invest FWD and said it “focuses on various promising companies within the same business area. Common to all of them is the difficult – but important – process towards scaling”.

Its head of sustainability Dorte Rye Olsen said: “matterr is a young company with an interesting solution that aims to be implemented on a large scale to benefit the entire fashion industry. We believe in the scalability of their technology as well as the commercial potential of the company. This can ensure the right impact in the long run.”

The companies didn’t say how much the total investment adds up to but did say that the EU’s support — via the EFRE/JTF programme in North Rhine-Westphalia — is €30 million, the largest grants awarded under this framework so far.