Recycling Powerhouse: Circularity at Industrial Scale

Recycling Powerhouse Ltd. was established in July 2026 to industrialize, standardize and scale textile recycling. Based in Switzerland, the venture will operate a franchise-driven business model that enables the production of high-quality, certified recycled yarns. The project is supported by the following partners: Rieter Group, the world’s leading system supplier for natural and man-made fibers, Säntis Textiles, a Swiss textile engineering company, and Valvan, a Belgian sorting technology company. The first blueprint franchise operation is scheduled to launch early 2027 in partnership with Suhail Industrial Holding Group in Qatar.

The global textile industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Rising volumes of textile waste, increasing regulatory pressure and growing demand for sustainable products are accelerating the need for scalable circular solutions. Textile-to-textile recycling is not new, yet less than 1% of used textiles are recycled back into new ones. This is primarily due to technological complexity, the availability of low-cost virgin materials and often fragmented, hard-to-verify recycling claims in the market. Over the coming years, Recycling Powerhouse intends to industrialize, standardize and scale textile recycling by establishing a global network of textile recycling plants capable of converting post- and pre-consumer textile waste into certified recycled yarns on an unprecedented industrial scale. 

Recycling Powerhouse will act as a global integrator and franchisor across the textile recycling value chain, providing standardized recycling concepts, technologies, operating procedures, digital solutions, audit services and technical support to franchise partners worldwide. Franchise partners will gain access to Recycling Powerhouse’s proven recycling solutions, engineering know-how, training programs and operational support systems. Yarns produced by franchisees will be marketed under an established brand. Recycling Powerhouse will ensure quality through auditing, certification and full end-to-end traceability across the value chain.

As part of this venture, Rieter is contributing its tearing and spinning expertise for short-staple fibers. The tearing machine converts fabric clips into fibers preserving fiber quality far better than conventional technologies – a critical factor in enabling industrial-scale recycling and high-quality yarn production. The tearing machine complements Rieter’s end-to-end spinning systems technology.

Valvan, a global leader in sorting technology, contributes leading textile sorting equipment and know-how, including the automated and AI-based textile sorting machine Fibersort, as well as Trimclean, a system designed to prepare fabric clips for tearing. 

The first recycling blueprint facility and franchise operation will launch in early 2027 in Qatar in cooperation with Suhail Industrial Holding Group. Suhail has firmly established itself as a leader in the recycling of metals, steel and plastic in the Middle East and other regions, and with this move is extending its operations into textile recycling. The facility will serve as a global reference model, demonstrating how industrial-scale textile recycling can become commercially viable while supporting circular economy goals. Suhail Industrial Holding Group is already planning additional plants worldwide, with the ambition to become a global leader in textile recycling.

Noel Norking, Managing Director of Recycling Powerhouse: “Our mission is to make textile recycling simple, scalable and accessible to investors, so they can turn the textile industry’s tectonic shifts into monumental opportunity while helping to solve the world’s growing textile waste problem.”

Thomas Oetterli, CEO of Rieter Group: “With Recycling Powerhouse Ltd., we are bringing our greatest strengths to one of the world’s most pressing issues: textile waste. By combining leading-edge spinning technology, decades of recycling expertise and advanced traceability solutions, the venture creates a strategic platform to unlock new growth opportunities across machinery sales, engineering services, recycling technologies and recycled yarn markets.”

Stefan Hutter, owner of Säntis Textiles: “Yarn manufacturing is fundamental to successful textile-to-textile recycling. We will bring together the full know-how of Rieter’s systems technology to create a powerful yarn brand with real potential to transform textile recycling.” 

Frank Vandeputte, owner of the Valvan Group: “At the heart of any effective recycling system is the ability to separate pure fractions from waste streams. We are proud to bring our advanced and specialized sorting technology to the textile industry and help pave the way to solving the global challenge of textile waste.”

Sheikh Khalid Ahmed Mubarak Al Thani, Chairman of Suhail Industrial Holding Group in Qatar: “Recycling Powerhouse brings together deep textile expertise and cutting-edge engineering to help us realize our vision of a sustainable, competitive and resilient future where there is no textile waste.”

About Rieter
Rieter is the world’s leading system supplier for processing natural and man-made fibers into short-staple and long-staple yarn, as well as for the production of filament yarns, man-made fibers and nonwovens. With its comprehensive technology portfolio, Rieter covers the entire textile value chain – from fiber to yarn, and from polymer melt to texturized filament, synthetic staple fibers and nonwoven. Headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland, the company designs and engineers complex spinning plants, machines, systems, and components that enable an efficient and economical production. Rieter’s leading technologies ensure minimal resource consumption, making a significant contribution to sustainability across the global textile value chain. Rieter has a history spanning more than 230 years, operates 22 production sites in nine countries, and employs around 6 400 people worldwide, approximately 9% of them in Switzerland. Rieter is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the ticker symbol RIEN. www.rieter.com

About Recycling Powerhouse Ltd.
Recycling Powerhouse Ltd. is a venture that aims to industrialize, standardize and scale textile recycling through an innovative franchise-driven business model. Based in Switzerland, the company partners with leading technology providers across the textile industry, enabling franchisees to operate textile recycling plants at an unprecedented industrial scale and produce high-quality, certified recycled yarns under an own brand. www.recyclingpowerhouse.com

About Säntis Textiles
Säntis is a family-owned company founded in 2005, owner of the brand RCO100, and rooted in a generational legacy of Swiss engineering and textile innovation. Headquartered in Singapore with a global footprint, it specializes in sustainable material innovation, fiber-friendly recycling technology and high-quality fabric development. www.saentis-textiles.com 

About Valvan Technologies
Valvan is a Belgian technology company and specialist in automated textile sorting, baling and recycling solutions. Through innovations such as Fibersort, which sorts textiles based on fiber composition and color, and Trimclean, a system designed to prepare fabric clips for tearing, Valvan helps make textile waste streams more transparent, consistent and suitable for high-quality recycling. The company combines engineering expertise with advanced automation to support the textile industry’s transition toward circularity at scale. www.valvan.com

About Suhail Industrial Holding Group
Suhail Industrial Holding is a leading industrial group headquartered in the State of Qatar, specializing in the production and export of processed non-ferrous metals, stainless steel and plastic products to global markets. With a strong and diversified network of subsidiaries, Suhail Industrial Holding Group has established itself as a regional leader in recycling, setting benchmarks for efficiency, innovation, and environmental stewardship. The Group is leveraging its industrial capabilities to become a global leader in textile recycling. www.suhailindustries.com

Disclaimer
All statements in this report which do not refer to historical facts are forecasts which offer no guarantee whatsoever with respect to future performance; they embody risks and uncertainties which include – but are not confined to – future global economic conditions, exchange rates, legal provisions, market conditions, activities by competitors and other factors which are outside the company’s control.