The retailer’s circularity strategy is moving from brand commitments toward material offtake, with home and apparel expected to be key volume categories.
Target is expanding its collaboration with Swedish textile-recycling company Syre to accelerate the use of textile-to-textile recycled polyester in owned-brand products. The agreement is intended to support the use of up to 70,000 metric tons of polyester made from discarded textiles, with meaningful product integration targeted by 2030.
Polyester becomes the circularity test
Target’s move fits its broader Target Forward strategy, under which the retailer plans for 100% of its owned-brand products to be designed for a circular future by 2040. The company says this means designing to eliminate waste through materials that are regenerative, recycled or sustainably sourced, while improving durability, repairability and recyclability.
The commercial significance is clear: polyester remains one of fashion and home textiles’ most important fibres, but most recycled polyester still comes from plastic bottles rather than old textiles. Textile-to-textile polyester recycling could give retailers a more credible circular route if it can scale at consistent quality, price and volume.
Syre builds its supply network
Target was one of three major launch partners announced by Syre in June 2025, alongside Gap Inc. and Houdini Sportswear. Gap said it aimed to use 10,000 metric tons per year of Syre’s recycled polyester chips, while Houdini committed to sourcing 50% of its polyester from Syre over three years.
Syre, founded in 2024 and backed by H&M Group and Vargas, has established an R&D facility and pilot production line in Mebane, North Carolina. The company said it reached multi-ton production of circular PET chips in 2025 and is now advancing plans for its first large-scale production facility in Vietnam, with construction targeted to begin in 2027.
What to watch next
For suppliers, the signal is important. Large retailers are beginning to treat next-generation recycled materials as future supply infrastructure, not niche capsule inputs. The next test will be whether Syre can industrialise production fast enough for high-volume home and apparel categories, while meeting brand expectations on traceability, colour performance, fibre quality and cost.
