Taiwanese polyester giant Far Eastern Group has invested US$5 million in US recycler Ambercycle as part of a strategic effort to help scale textile-to-textile regeneration in the apparel industry.
The investment is being provided through Far Eastern’s corporate venture capital arm, Drive Catalyst, to help scale up Cycora, Ambercycle’s circular polyester which is made from post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste.
Ambercycle last week announced a €70 million, three-year deal with Spanish fashion company Inditex, which owns Zara, to buy the bulk of its output of Cycora, which will enable it to fund its first commercial facility.
Far Eastern says its investment in Cycora is the first step in a broader plan to jointly collaborate on building a textile-to-textile recycling ecosystem with Ambercycle.
“Decarbonised raw materials, such as Cycora, appeal to our customers’ demand and strong support for sustainable fashion,” said Juliana Pidner Hsu, managing director at Drive Catalyst.
“Textile-to-textile regeneration will be crucial in shifting to a fossil-free fashion industry. However, the production infrastructure must be scaled to fulfill the business requirements of large fashion brands and their customers.”
Ambercycle CEO and co-founder Shay Sethi welcomed the investment, commenting: “For circularity to scale, integration across the entire value chain is essential.”
The Los Angeles-based material science start-up employs molecular regeneration technology which uses enzymes to break down PET into environmentally benign monomers. It hopes to be producing Cycora at scale by 2025.
