CIRCULOSE®

Overview

A recycled-cellulose pulp feedstock used by downstream fiber producers. It is not, by itself, the finished fiber name on a garment.

Feel and behavior

Depends on the specified fiber grade, yarn and fabric construction.

Where you find it

See the linked underlying material and the producer’s product-specific documentation.

Source and geography

CIRCULOSE is a dissolving pulp made from discarded cotton textiles, not a fiber. It was developed by the Swedish company Renewcell, which was declared bankrupt in February 2024. Later in 2024 the private equity firm Altor acquired the business and its plant at Ortviken in Sundsvall, Sweden, and the company now operates under the name Circulose. The pulp is sold to fiber makers, who spin it into regenerated cellulose such as viscose; in 2025 Circulose announced a partnership with Jilin Chemical Fiber for viscose filament yarn.

Worth knowing

• Circulose's traceability partner issues a digital token for every kilogram of pulp to record each processing step and prevent double counting.
• The producer reports that more than 250 garment styles have been made with CIRCULOSE across well-known fashion brands.

Types, grades and fabrics

Types and grades

CIRCULOSE itself is a dissolving pulp in sheet form, made from cotton-rich textile waste; it becomes a fiber only in a partner's viscose or lyocell plant. Fiber products made with it have been sold as CIRCULOSE viscose with about 30% or 50% recycled pulp content and CIRCULOSE lyocell with about 30%, the remainder being wood pulp, according to the producer. In 2025 Circulose announced a partnership with Jilin Chemical Fiber for viscose filament yarn and, later, a partner-only supply model in which pulp goes to brands with direct partnerships. Specifications such as viscosity and alpha-cellulose content matter to fiber makers; for shoppers the key figure is the recycled share.

Fabrics and products

Fibers containing CIRCULOSE pulp go into the usual viscose and lyocell products, such as dresses, blouses, knit tops and denim blends, and the Jilin partnership targets viscose filament yarn for smooth wovens. The producer reports that more than 250 styles have been made with brands including H&M, Levi's, Tommy Hilfiger, COS, Zara and Calvin Klein, and has since announced partnerships with EILEEN FISHER, Marimekko, Samsoe Samsoe and King Louie. Because the pulp is mixed with wood pulp and the resulting fiber is often blended with cotton or elastane, garments usually contain a minority of recycled cellulose.

Buying and care

How to judge quality

The garment label will list viscose, lyocell or rayon, never CIRCULOSE as a fiber. Ask the brand for two numbers: the recycled pulp share in the fiber and the fiber's share in the garment. Circulose announced in 2025 that it would trace material from pulp to finished apparel through TextileGenesis, a digital system that issues a token for each kilogram of pulp to prevent double counting, so brands can request that record. Fabric quality follows the fiber type: viscose from recycled pulp should be judged like any viscose for drape, seam strength and shrinkage.

Care in detail

Care follows the fiber made from the pulp. For viscose garments: wash cold to 30 C on a delicate cycle, do not wring, dry flat or hanging, and iron on medium (about 150 C) on the reverse while slightly damp. For lyocell: wash at 30 to 40 C, gentle cycle, inside out, avoid overloading to limit fibrillation. Avoid chlorine bleach with both. Store dry to prevent mildew. Recycled pulp does not change care needs. When the garment is a blend with elastane or polyester, use the most heat-sensitive fiber's limits and follow the care label.

Care at a glance

Follow the finished product’s care label. A trademark does not specify the care needs of every blend or construction.

Environmental and social footprint

Circulose presents its pulp as replacing wood pulp and diverting cotton waste; the balance depends on energy use, bleaching chemistry and yields at Ortviken, and on the viscose or lyocell plant that later dissolves the pulp. The fiber stage carries the usual impacts of viscose, including carbon disulfide handling, or of lyocell. No independent peer-reviewed life-cycle study specific to CIRCULOSE was found for this entry. At end of life, regenerated cellulose behaves better than polyester in one respect: a 2019 study (Zambrano and colleagues) found rayon microfibers biodegraded in aerobic aquatic tests while polyester microfibers persisted. The commercial history matters to impact too: a plant that sits idle for lack of orders diverts no waste.

Tradeoffs

Producer claims apply to defined products and comparisons. This atlas does not independently certify performance, sourcing or environmental claims.

A useful question to ask: Which exact grade, composition and current producer documentation apply to this product?

Science

Data sheet

Manufactured cellulose family

Regenerated cellulose or a cellulose derivative, depending on the fiber.

Structure and chemistry

The product is a sheet of purified cellulose pulp, chemically cotton cellulose (beta-1,4-linked glucose) that has been shortened in chain length and cleaned to dissolving-pulp specifications. Dissolving pulps need high alpha-cellulose content, low hemicellulose and controlled viscosity (degree of polymerization) so that they react and dissolve evenly in viscose or lyocell processing. The fiber eventually made from CIRCULOSE takes the structure of whichever process is used, for example the cellulose II, skin-core morphology of viscose.

From source to yarn

As the producer describes it, cotton-rich textile waste is sorted, shredded and cleaned of non-textile parts and non-cellulosic components; the material is then chemically treated to remove dyes and impurities and to adjust chain length, and the purified cellulose is formed into pulp sheets. These sheets are shipped to fiber producers, who dissolve them, often blended with wood pulp, and spin viscose, lyocell or other regenerated fibers. The producer describes CIRCULOSE as made entirely from discarded cotton textiles.

Performance in use

Performance claims apply to the downstream fiber, not the pulp. A viscose made partly or fully from CIRCULOSE should behave like viscose: absorbent, soft, readily dyed with reactive and direct dyes, and much weaker when wet than dry. Whether recycled-cotton pulp changes spinning efficiency or fiber quality depends on the specific fiber producer's process and blend ratio, so buyers should rely on test reports for the actual fiber rather than on the pulp brand.

How it is identified

Fibers containing CIRCULOSE cannot be distinguished from wood-based regenerated cellulose by burn tests (indicative only), microscopy or FTIR, because the polymer is the same. Identification depends on documentation from the pulp producer and fiber maker. A common error is listing CIRCULOSE as if it were the fiber on a garment; it is a feedstock inside a fiber that still needs its own generic name.

History

Timeline

1. 2024Renewcell, developer of CIRCULOSE and operator of the Ortviken plant in Sundsvall, Sweden, was declared bankrupt in February. [1]
2. 2024The investment firm Altor acquired the remaining business and plant later that year, and the company was renamed Circulose after its product. [2]
3. 2025Circulose announced in September that it would trace material from pulp to garment through TextileGenesis. [3]
4. 2025In December Circulose announced a partner-only model under which pulp is available only to brands with direct partnerships. [4]
5. 2026Circulose announced in February, with commitments from 11 brands, that it planned to restart production at Ortviken in the fourth quarter of 2026. [6]

CIRCULOSE belongs to the development of textile-to-textile cellulose feedstocks. Its path continues through a separate fiber-making process before yarn and fabric.

The deeper record

Renewcell built a commercial-scale textile-to-pulp plant at Ortviken, Sundsvall, which the company describes as the first commercial-scale chemical textile recycling plant, but weak sales led to bankruptcy in February 2024. Altor bought the remaining assets later that year, renamed the business after its product, and left the plant idle while seeking volume commitments. In February 2026 Circulose announced, with commitments from 11 brands, that it planned to restart production in the fourth quarter of 2026. Whether production has resumed as of late 2026 should be checked with the company.

Labeling and law

CIRCULOSE is a trademark for a pulp, not a generic fiber name. The finished fiber must be labeled by its generic name (for example rayon, viscose or lyocell) under the US TFPIA and 16 CFR Part 303 and under Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011. Recycled-content claims need substantiation for the actual share present in the fiber and fabric. In late 2025 Circulose announced that its pulp would be available only to brands with direct partnerships, which affects how supply is documented.

This describes what rules and standards cover. It is not legal advice; jurisdiction, product form and current rule text control.

Frequently asked

Is CIRCULOSE a fabric?

No. It is a recycled dissolving pulp that fiber producers turn into viscose or lyocell. The garment label will show that generic fiber, and the brand may add that it contains CIRCULOSE pulp.

How much recycled material is in CIRCULOSE garments?

Fibers made with it have typically contained about 30% or 50% recycled pulp, with wood pulp making up the rest. If the garment also includes cotton or elastane, the overall recycled share is lower. Ask the brand for the exact figure.

What happened to Renewcell?

Renewcell, which developed CIRCULOSE, was declared bankrupt in February 2024. The investment firm Altor bought the business and plant later that year and renamed it Circulose, which announced plans to restart production in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Sources

• CIRCULOSE: Official product information
• Circulose: Circulose restarts commercial-scale production at Ortviken plant in Sundsvall, Sweden
• Business of Fashion: Textile recycler Renewcell acquired out of administration by Altor
• Recycling Today: Textile recycling plant acquired out of bankruptcy
• Ecotextile News: Circulose unveils partner-only pulp model
• C&EN: Textile recycling tries to gain a second wind
• Circulose: Product (made from what already exists)
• The Interline: Circulose partners with TextileGenesis for traceability (2025)
• Renewcell: CIRCULOSE
• Fashion for Good: Journey to scale, Circulose
• Marine Pollution Bulletin: Microfibers generated from the laundering of cotton, rayon and polyester based fabrics and their aquatic biodegradation (Zambrano et al., 2019)

Cite this page

Chaos. (2026). CIRCULOSE®. In Fibers of Earth: An independent textile atlas. https://www.hendrickresearch.com/fibers/materials/circulose/