Decathlon invests in fibre recycling startup

Category: SUSTAINABILITY

Country: France

French sports brand’s sales of ‘circular’ products reached €420 million in 2023.

30th May 2024
By Innovation in Textiles
Lyon, France.

Leading sports brand Decathlon, headquartered in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France is investing in Lyon-based textile fibre regeneration startup Recyc’elit.

The recycling of complex textile blends is a priority for Decathlon and Recyc’elit is partnering with it to develop new products from textile waste.

Founded in 2020, Recyc’elit has developed a technology for material separation to obtain recycled polyester, elastane and polyamide and will build a first demonstrator plant in 2025. Specifically, the technology involves the depolymerisation of polyester back to its original monomers.

“We are very pleased to partner with Recyc’elit, with whom we share common values and a commitment to drive positive change across the textile industry,” said Franck Vigo, chief of alliances and new business at Decathlon says: “To truly contribute to decarbonisation we must support and surround ourselves with the brightest minds and the most committed partners. It’s not just about finding solutions, but about nurturing them, refining them, and scaling them for impact.”

The collaboration will include the creation of capsule collections as well as establishing a new value chain based on recycled textile waste.

With around 101,000 employees and 1,750 stores globally, Decathlon achieved sales of €15.6 billion in 2023, up 4.4% on 2022, despite the negative impact of withdrawing from its commercial activities in Russia. The company’s net result was €931 million and digital sales accounted for 17.4% of revenue.

In addition, the company reduced it’s absolute CO2 emissions by 10% for the second year running and 39% of its products sold were defined as ‘ecodesigned’ compared to 23% in 2022. Sales of products classed as ‘circular’ by the company were €420 million, up 27% compared to 2022.

Courtesy: Innovationintextiles.com