Could you start by introducing yourself and ReHubs, and give us a brief overview of what you'll be covering in your session at the Textiles Recycling Expo EU? 

I’m currently serving as CEO of ReHubs and the founder of PEPPER-i2, a Swiss-based impact advisory firm, with more than 25 years of experience across fibre and textile value chains. My background includes leadership roles at DuPont, INVISTA and Lenzing, spanning commercial, innovation, supply chain, quality and brand management. I’m deeply passionate about circularity because it sits at the intersection of social and environmental impact, and industrial efficiency. Building a truly circular textile ecosystem is not only critical from a sustainability perspective, but also a major opportunity to create a more resilient and future-fit European textile industry.  

ReHubs is a European alliance focused on scaling textile-to-textile recycling and accelerating the adoption of EU recycled post-consumer fibres through coordinated industry action. We work across the entire ecosystem, from collection and sorting to recycling, brands and PROs, because no single player can solve this challenge alone. 

In my keynote, I’ll focus on the economics of textile-to-textile recycling, specifically why the industry is currently stuck in a supply-demand deadlock, and what needs to happen to make textile-to-textile recycled fibres commercially viable at scale. I’ll also discuss the role of infrastructure, financing, policy alignment and long-term brand commitments in building a functioning circular textile industry  in Europe. 

The economics of textile-to-textile recycling is still a significant stumbling block for the industry. In your view, what are the two or three fundamental economic challenges that need to be solved before the sector can truly scale? 

The biggest challenge is the supply-demand deadlock, as highlighted in the ReHubs strategy and roadmap report published last Summer. Across the value chain, companies hesitate to invest in new capacity without guaranteed demand, while brands hesitate to commit without reliable, scalable and cost-competitive supply. 

Secondly, recycled fibres are still structurally more expensive than virgin materials. While some of the cost gap can be reduced through scale and system optimisation, there will remain additional costs linked to collection, sorting, preprocessing and recycling that do not exist in virgin supply chains. 

Third, the ecosystem remains highly fragmented, both across technologies and along the value chain itself. We still lack harmonised collection systems, consistent feedstock quality, aligned regulations and coordinated infrastructure development across Europe. 

To scale successfully, we need long-term brand offtake commitments, clear legislation, harmonised standards, industrial-scale collection and sorting, and blended public-private financing mechanisms that help de-risk investment during the transition period.    

ReHubs has been working to build the infrastructure and investment case for textile recycling across Europe. Where does the initiative stand today, and what have been the most meaningful developments over the past year or so? 

Over the past year, ReHubs and our partners have made significant progress in advancing Europe’s circular textile ecosystem. 

Last summer, ReHubs conducted more than 100 stakeholder interviews across the textile value chain to develop our strategy and roadmap, resulting in the publication of “ReHubs: Breaking the Supply-Demand Deadlock — The Transparent Roadmap to Building Europe’s Circular Textile Ecosystem.”   

As part of this strategy, in March 2026, ReHubs partnered with BCG to launch a joint report “Advancing Textile Circularity: Europe’s textile waste challenge – scaling textile-to-textile requires enabling mechanisms”. Currently Europe generates around 15.2 million tonnes of textile waste each year, yet less than 1% is recycled back into new textiles. The report identifies a critical tipping point: reaching around c. 2.7 million tonnes of T2T recycling annually by 2035 would enable the first viable scale for a European circular textile system. One of our key ambitions is to create a single source of truth for transparent industry data across the value chain, because credible and aligned data is essential for investment decisions, policymaking and scaling infrastructure effectively. This report establishes a unified fact base on textile waste and recycling in Europe. 

We have also strengthened strategic partnerships to accelerate collective action. This includes the 2030 Circularity Blueprint with Global Fashion Agenda, which outlines eight interconnected intervention areas designed to address systemic barriers in a coordinated way. 

In addition, ReHubs became a Strategic Partner to the Feedstock Activation Europe (FAE) project led by Fashion for Good, which aims to unlock post-consumer textile feedstock for textile-to-textile recycling at scale. 

Across the industry, we are seeing a growing willingness to collaborate through strategic partnerships. ReHubs plays a key role as an action-oriented alliance, helping to connect initiatives, align priorities and orchestrate collaboration across the ecosystem. With many organisations and initiatives emerging across the value chain, coordinated action is essential to avoid fragmented or siloed efforts and ensure resources, investments and expertise are focused where they can create the greatest systemic impact.    

There's a lot of talk about making recycled fibres cost-competitive with virgin materials. How realistic is that in the near term, and what would need to change in technology, policy, or market structure to get there? 

As the ReHubs x BCG study shows, there is currently a clear cost disadvantage for recycled fibres versus virgin. While part of this gap can be reduced through scaling and industrialisation over time, there will also remain a structural cost difference because circular systems require additional steps that virgin systems do not, including collection, sorting and preprocessing. 

The industry often focuses heavily on recycling innovation itself, but the bigger issue is overall system efficiency and scale. We need to industrialise the full value chain: collection, sorting, preprocessing, recycling and reintegration into manufacturing. This is why ReHubs is focused on achieving the 2.7 million tonne target by 2032. The study shows, this represents a critical tipping point where the industry can transition from an inefficient system into one that becomes economically viable. Until that scale is reached, the transition will require financial support and coordinated investment mechanisms. 

Policy also plays a critical role. EPR schemes, recycled content targets, eco-modulation and harmonised standards can help close the cost gap while creating demand certainty. At the same time, brands need to provide stronger market signals through long-term offtake agreements. In the short term, recycled fibres may continue to carry a premium, but the economics will improve as infrastructure scales, regulations mature and system efficiencies increase.   

Investment in textile recycling capacity is growing, but many would argue not fast enough. What's your read on investor appetite right now, and what are the main factors holding capital back from flowing more freely into the sector? 

Investor appetite feels mixed right now. Investor interest is definitely growing because the scale of the textile waste problem is becoming impossible to ignore. There is strong recognition that circularity in textiles will require major infrastructure investment. At the same time, investors remain cautious for several reasons. 

First, there is still uncertainty around legislation, particularly the structure, timing and implementation of EPR schemes across Europe. Investors need confidence not only that funding mechanisms will exist, but also that capital flows will be directed strategically across the ecosystem. 

Second, many technologies are still at relatively early stages of industrial maturity. Recent setbacks in the sector have reinforced the importance of de-risking investments and demonstrating scalability at commercial level. 

Third, the industry remains highly fragmented. Fragmentation exists both across recycling technologies and along the value chain itself. Investors often struggle to identify which technologies, business models and partnerships will ultimately succeed at scale. 

This is where ReHubs plays an important role by taking a holistic ecosystem approach. Circularity cannot be solved through isolated investments alone, it requires coordination across feedstock, infrastructure, technology, manufacturing, brands, policy and financing.    

ReHubs operates at a pan-European level, working across a complex landscape of different markets, regulations, and value chain players. How do you build a coherent economic model in that environment? 

Building a coherent European ecosystem is not optional, it is essential if textile-to-textile recycling is going to scale successfully. This requires close collaboration between industry, EU institutions, member states, PROs and value chain players. ReHubs sees its role as helping to align these stakeholders and support a more coordinated European approach. 

One of the biggest risks today is fragmentation. Without coordination, Europe could end up with multiple disconnected systems that create inefficiencies rather than scale. 

That is why harmonisation is so important, not only for EPR frameworks, but also for standards, data transparency, infrastructure planning and investment priorities. 

At the same time, we must recognise that member states are progressing at different speeds and developing different strategies. Building alignment across this complexity is challenging, but it is also necessary if we want to create an efficient and investable circular textile ecosystem in Europe.   

EPR schemes and other policy levers are starting to shift the economics for recyclers. How significant is that shift in practice, and what more needs to happen on the policy side to make the numbers work at scale?   

EPR is a major step forward because it begins to internalise the cost of textile waste within the system. But across Europe, EPR is still highly fragmented and at very different stages of maturity. The risk is that we create 27 different systems instead of one coherent European framework. To make circularity economically viable at scale, we need harmonised EPR implementation, stronger eco-modulation incentives, recycled content requirements and support for infrastructure investment. 

Equally important is ensuring alignment among PROs so that funding is invested in an orchestrated way across the value chain. It is not only about collecting money, but also about ensuring investments are directed strategically toward the infrastructure, technologies and capabilities that Europe needs most. 

Policy also needs to stimulate demand, not just manage waste. One of the most important roles of policy is reducing uncertainty so that investors, value chain stakeholders and brands can commit with greater confidence. 

We also need to consider the broader social impact of the transition, ensuring that circular systems are built in a way that supports jobs, regional development and long-term industrial resilience in Europe.   

Finally, what draws you to the Textiles Recycling Expo EU, and what do you see as the value of convening this community in one place?   

Events like the Textiles Recycling Expo EU are critical because they bring together all the key actors needed to accelerate circularity across the textile industry. The textile waste crisis cannot be solved by any one company, organisation or initiative alone. Progress depends on collaboration and alignment across the entire ecosystem. These events create opportunities not only to exchange ideas, but also to build partnerships, align priorities and move from discussion into implementation. 

Most importantly, they reinforce that textile circularity is no longer a niche sustainability topic, it is becoming a strategic priority for the future competitiveness, resilience and industrial transformation of the European textile industry. 

That is exactly why ReHubs is proud to support the Textiles Recycling Expo as Strategic Partner and help drive the collective action needed to scale textile-to-textile recycling in Europe.