Goodwill's 4.6 Billion Pounds Position It as US Textile EPR Backbone

Goodwill collected about 4.6 billion pounds of material in 2025, and Patrik Frisk wants that machine bolted to the front of every US textile extended producer responsibility program now taking shape.

The CEO of Reju, the polyester chemical recycler owned by Paris-based Technip Energies, laid out the case Nov. 9 at Goodwill Industries International's Sustainability Summit in Houston, held alongside the Goodwill Connect conference. Reju already buys polyester-rich material from the nonprofit, and Frisk told the room of Goodwill executives exactly where he thinks the policy is heading.

"I think EPR could be a big opportunity," Frisk said. "Make no mistake, regulation is coming."

What's actually on the books?

California's SB 707, the Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024, remains the first and only US textile EPR law. Frisk said textile EPR bills have been introduced in New York (S3217C/A6193C) and Minnesota (HF 3713), and that Oregon, Rhode Island and Hawaii are exploring the policy.

Washington's HB 1420 died in the House Appropriations Committee in February after being narrowed to a study; sponsor Rep. Kristine Reeves plans to reintroduce it. At the federal level, Rep. Chellie Pingree introduced the Textile Waste Reduction Act (HR 10454) in September, and the Government Accountability Office issued a report on textile waste in October.

Because EPR programs put reuse, resale and repair ahead of recycling, Frisk argued Goodwill doesn't need to compete with the coming system — it is the system, or at least its intake. Regulators and producer responsibility organizations would otherwise have to build collection from zero.

"Now you can have a donation which is cared for versus simply waste, where you would also need to build and create all the infrastructure to manage it," Frisk said.

The commercial logic is straightforward: Goodwill organizations could charge the PRO for sorting, gain more sellable goods, and hand Reju the residue. "We'll take the stuff no one wants and we turn it back into raw material," he said. He also suggested Goodwill expand donation bins in California as EPR rolls out, pointing to European collectors running thousands of bins in Germany and France.

Where's the demand-side gap?

Here Frisk turned blunt. Collection mandates without recycled-content demand just move the pile.

"If we let this happen without creating any demand on the other end, then we're missing the point," he said. A collection-only system risks "more paperwork to create a bigger pile with the same outcome: incineration, landfill."

The EU is pairing its mandate — national textile EPR schemes by 2028 under the revised Waste Framework Directive, with eco-modulated producer fees — with the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and a planned Circular Economy Act to pull demand through. Even so, Frisk said California's program as currently developed is more comprehensive than the European ones.

Traceability becomes a commercial asset under that structure. Reju markets a guaranteed post-consumer, textile-to-textile polyester, and Frisk called certifying the state or country of origin "absolutely critical" for brand customers.

The California clock is already running. CalRecycle approved Landbell USA as PRO; producers had to join by July 1, 2026. A statewide needs assessment is due March 1, 2027, implementing regulations take effect no earlier than July 1, 2028, and full implementation lands July 1, 2030.

What about the incoming material?

Frisk warned Goodwill leaders their feedstock is about to get worse. Citing Textile Exchange data:

• 139 million metric tons of textiles were produced in 2025
• 127 million metric tons of textile waste are generated annually
• Only 15% of that waste is collected; 1% becomes new garments
• Total textile waste is projected to grow 42% by 2035, to about 180 million metric tons
• Roughly 60% of textile waste is polyester

Because donations lag purchases by three to five years, the cheap, polyester-heavy fast fashion surge hasn't fully hit donation streams yet. Frisk put the fast fashion market at $163 billion in 2025, growing about 10% a year toward $424 billion by 2035. "The waste we have today is yesterday's purchases," he said — and tomorrow's volumes will be harder to resell domestically or export. Chemical recycling at scale will also need pre-sorting that strips "disruptors" like buttons and zippers before shredding.

How big does Reju get?

Reju operates demonstration plant Regeneration Hub Zero in Frankfurt, Germany. Ground preparation is underway for its first commercial plant at the Chemelot industrial park in the Netherlands, with construction starting in Q1 2027 — designed for about 65,000 tons of waste a year, roughly 300 million garments.

Announced hubs in Lacq, France, and Rochester, New York, follow. Gov. Kathy Hochul's office has described the Rochester project as a $390 million investment at Eastman Business Park; Frisk hopes to have it running by 2030. In February, the Northeast Goodwill Circularity Hub — 11 Goodwill organizations led by Goodwill of the Finger Lakes — agreed to supply polyester-rich material to the facility.

Reju has scouted about 30 more US sites and projects output of 700,000 to 800,000 tons by the mid-2030s, potentially 1 million tons by 2040. That means four to five hubs in the US and Canada. "That's an opportunity for Goodwill," Frisk said, "to increase volumes at the top of the funnel."

Goodwill CEO Steve Preston told attendees the network kept nearly 5 billion pounds in circulation last year and is approaching $10 billion in collective annual revenue.

Watch the March 1, 2027 needs assessment deadline in California — it will set the terms for whether this becomes a demand-driven loop or a bigger pile.