Material World: Bestseller Backs Matterr’s Scale-Ready Poly Recycling Tech

Material World is a weekly roundup of innovations and ideas within the materials sector, covering news from emerging biomaterials and alternative leathers to sustainable substitutes and future-proof fibers.

Bestseller

Danish fashion group Bestseller’s sustainable innovation and investment platform Invest FWD is putting financial support behind recycled polyester technology firm Matterr.

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The German cleantech company developed technology to chemically recycle polyester from traditionally complex inputs: worn-out textiles and packaging waste. And Matterr’s process, which delivers drop-in-ready materials, is now ready to scale.

“Matterr is a young company with an interesting solution that aims to be implemented on a large scale to benefit the entire fashion industry,” said Dorte Rye Olsen, Bestseller’s head of sustainability. “We believe in the scalability of their technology as well as the commercial potential of the company. This can ensure the right impact in the long run.”

Matterr’s proprietary depolymerisation process turns mixed PET waste streams, including polyester textiles and multilayer packaging, into high-purity terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG) monomers. With existing production infrastructure, those monomers are repolymerized into virgin-quality polyester. The process can reportedly handle colored and hard-to-recycle inputs “beyond the reach of mechanical recycling” to achieve recovery rates above 95 percent, the company said.

“To achieve our ambitious goals, it is essential to have the right partners by our side. With Bestseller we share not only mindset and values, but also the belief that true change comes from pragmatic collaboration,” said Melanie Hackler, CEO of Matterr. “Together, we are building a partnership that points towards the business models of the future.”

Following a successful industrial deployment in Germany of this proprietary process, Matterr plans to license its technology to global markets. With Bestseller’s investment—as well as financial support from an EU-awarded grant—Matterr will begin building its small-scale industrial plant in 2026. The facility is designed to annually process 10,000 metric tons of polyester-rich waste into virgin-quality raw materials.

“Scaling breakthrough technologies requires strong and pragmatic partners. With Bestseller, we share not only mindset and values, but also the belief that drop-in ready, scalable and economically viable solutions are the business models of the future,” Hackler said. “This partnership accelerates our mission to make polyester a resource that can be recycled repeatedly.”

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Material Exchange x Worldly

Material Exchange’s AI sourcing assistant, Frank the Bear, will integrate with Worldly to offer brands an “instant, trusted understanding of the environmental impact of the materials and facilities they source from,” the partners said.

“Too often, buyers make sourcing decisions without knowing the real environmental impact,” Worldy CEO Scott Raskin said. “By embedding our facility-level, primary environmental data into Frank, we’re changing that—giving buyers access to actual, measured impact data from specific facilities so they can make truly informed choices from the start.”

The integration enables Frank users to view Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) data and Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) data, across carbon and water usage to waste and chemical impact, while browsing materials and suppliers. Ideally, placing this reportedly “verified, facility-level impact data” directly in front of sourcing professionals will allow brands to start building flexibility and resilience into their supply chains.

“Our partnership with Worldly takes Frank to the next level,” Material Exchange CEO Darren Glenister said. “Brands will be able to access the sustainability data they need, exactly when they need it, to make better decisions and build trust with their customers. Suppliers will be able to market their true value and stay competitive. This is sourcing made simple—and sustainable.”​

Södra

In line with Södra’s strategy to strengthen the long-term competitiveness of family forestry, the Swedish pulp producer has invested more than one billion Swedish krona—the U.S. equivalent of around $104.4 million—into its Kinda sawmill in Kisa, southern Östergötland. It’s one of the largest investments ever made in Södra’s sawmill operations.

The investment secures the sawmill’s future and contributes to the green transition’s growing need for timber construction. It also opens up opportunities for further expansion and novel business opportunities for Södra, such as a pellet mill and potential future production of biocarbon.

“This is a forward-looking investment for Södra, where we continue to make more of every tree and strengthen our position in a location close to both raw materials and the market,” said CEO Lotta Lyrå. “Södra is stronger with Kinda than without—the alternative would have been to close the sawmill. Instead, we choose to invest in our long-term competitiveness.”

The sawmill in Kinda benefits from the growing region’s opportunities to increase market share and local presence. The implementation is expected to take place in stages and be fully operational by 2028. Once completed, the facility’s capacity will increase by 50 percent, reaching an annual volume of 300,000 cubic meters of sawn timber. The investment also includes a new pellet mill with a capacity of 25,000 tons of pellets.

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