Plan B Circular’s Project Re:claim polyester recycling facility in Kettering has achieved Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certification, strengthening its position as a potential UK recycling route for polyester textiles reaching the end of their useful life.

The commercial-scale facility, developed through a partnership between Plan B Circular and the Salvation Army Trading Company (SATCoL), is designed to recycle polyester textiles back into reusable material rather than sending them to lower-value applications or disposal.

For the laundry industry, the development is particularly relevant as commercial laundries and textile rental operators increasingly look for credible routes for worn out workwear, uniforms and other polyester containing textiles at the end of their service lives. Project Re:claim is described as the UK’s first commercial-scale polyester textile recycling plant and is currently operational in Kettering.

Certification brings traceability

The newly achieved GRS certification provides independent verification that the facility’s processes meet requirements covering recycled content, environmental practices and social responsibility.

It also supports chain-of-custody requirements, allowing material to be traced from pre- and post-consumer textile inputs through the recycling process to the resulting recycled polyester pellets. This traceability could become increasingly important for laundry and textile service companies seeking to demonstrate the environmental credentials of their end of life textile management, particularly where customers are looking for evidence behind circularity and recycled content claims. Plan B Circular says the facility is capable of processing polyester waste streams and converting them into high-quality recycled outputs suitable for demanding applications. Tim Cross, founder and CEO of Plan B Circular, said the certification provided independent verification of the standards being applied at the facility. “GRS certification at Project Re:claim is the independent verification that the facility we built with SATCoL is real and rigorous,” he said. “For brands looking to make credible recycled content claims, this is the foundation they need.”

Cross added that the partnership with SATCoL had been established because the infrastructure for handling post-consumer textiles needed to be as robust as the recycling technology itself. Polyester is widely used across the textile sector, including in workwear, uniforms and other products that are routinely processed by commercial laundries and textile rental companies.

As the industry moves towards greater resource efficiency, the ability to recycle polyester fibre back into material for new products could provide another option for textiles that are no longer suitable for continued use or conventional reuse. The challenge for the laundry sector is particularly relevant where textile products have reached the end of their service life following repeated industrial washing, repair and refurbishment. Project Re:claim’s fibre-to-fibre approach is intended to keep polyester within the textile materials cycle, rather than simply extracting energy or making lower value products from discarded textiles.

Majonne Frost, Head of Environment and Sustainability at Salvation Army Trading Company, described the certification as a significant milestone for the project. “Achieving GRS certification is a defining moment for Project Reclaim,” she said. “It validates not only our technology but our vision for a truly circular polyester ecosystem.” She added that the certification process had provided an important validation of the project’s approach. Plan B Circular says its priority is now to scale sales of GRS-certified recycled polyester pellets and develop partnerships with brands and manufacturers looking for a verified UK sourcing route. The company is also working with corporate partners to bring recycled polyester from Project Re:claim into wider manufacturing supply chains.

The development could ultimately help create a more connected circular system in which polyester textiles supplied to commercial and industrial users can, at the end of their working lives, be directed towards verified fibre-to-fibre recycling. As customers increasingly scrutinise the full lifecycle of workwear, uniforms and other textile products, credible end of life routes – backed by independent certification and traceability – are likely to become an increasingly important part of the industry’s sustainability offering.