What Earth Protex does

Earth Protex is a privately held materials science company that develops and commercializes technologies for textile circularity. Founded in 1992-93 as a specialized eco-textile business and now headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, the company operates through wholly owned subsidiaries in Portugal (EU marketing and R&D hub, incorporated 2023) and China (manufacturing and technical operations, established 2008). Earth Protex is stewarded by co-founders Yitzac and Samuel Goldstein with multi-generational expertise in materials science and circularity.

The company's core platform spans three proprietary systems. Tex2Tex® is a commercially scaled thermo-mechanical recycling (TMR™) system that converts post-industrial and post-consumer polyester textile waste into GRS-certified recycled PET pellets, staple fiber, filament, and spun yarn at a stated capacity of 120 kt/yr. Upspun® is a pre-commercial hybrid yarn spinning technology that combines Tex2Tex® continuous filament with mechanically recycled staple fibers to deliver performance-grade yarns. Agrefinery® is an in-development biofractionation platform for converting non-food crop residues into fiber, polymer, and chemical co-products. Supporting infrastructure includes the Tex2Track™ order management platform, a product catalogue with 150+ SKUs, and a vetted network of 131 partner mills across 15+ countries.

Earth Protex sells recycled materials in multi-tonne lots to fashion brands, mills, and manufacturers via enterprise field sales, channel partners (e.g., iTextiles Pakistan), and event-driven engagement at trade shows such as Pitti Immagine Uomo. Pricing is competitive with virgin PET polyester and bottle RPET and is handled through inquiry-based quoting for multi-year B2B contracts. Customers span major apparel, sportswear, lifestyle, and luxury brands (Nike, Adidas, Levi's, The North Face, Reformation, Coach, Patagonia, H&M, Mango, Target, Puma, Converse, Vans, prAna, Gymshark, Dryrobe, Vivienne Westwood, Ganni, Gina Tricot), with documented expansion into automotive, aviation, workwear, home textiles, and technical/industrial segments.

Name

Earth Protex

Legal name

Earth Protex Global Inc.

Website

https://earthprotex.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Earth Protex is a private materials science company that develops and commercializes textile-to-textile recycled polyester through its proprietary TMR™ platform, supplying fashion brands, mills, and manufacturers with GRS-certified pellets, fibers, yarns, and fabrics.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recycled Textile Materials & Yarns

NAICS

Artificial and Synthetic Fibers and Filaments Manufacturing (32522), Fiber, Yarn, and Thread Mills (31311), Nonwoven Fabric Mills (31323)

SIC

Plastic Materials, Synth Resins & Nonvulcan Elastomers (2821), Textile Mill Products (2200)

akta.pro primary industry

Mechanical Fiber Recycling (Shredding/Open-End/Re-fiberization) (IMAOAMAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Regenerated & Recycled Fiber Production (rPET/rNylon/Regenerated Cellulose) (IMAOAMAD), Biobased, Compostable & Low-Impact Material Innovation (Bio-polymers/Dope Dyeing) (IMAOAMAM), Textile & Apparel Recycling and Sorting (Non-E-waste) (BPALADAL)

Keywords

• Textile recycling systems
• Recycled polyester materials
• Circular fashion materials
• Textile-to-textile recycling
• Sustainable yarn manufacturing

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tex2Tex® Recycled Material Sales: Sale of recycled polyester materials — pellets, staple fiber, filament yarn, spun yarn, and fabrics — produced via the TMR™ system. Products are sold in multi-tonne lots to brands, mills, and manufacturers. Pricing is stated as competitive with conventional PET polyester and bottle RPET.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Earth Protex manufactures and supplies recycled polyester materials (pellets, staple fiber, filament yarn, and finished fabrics) derived from post-consumer and pre-consumer textile waste. It offers end-to-end textile-to-textile recycling services for fashion brands and mills, leveraging proprietary TMR™ thermo-mechanical processing, Agrefinery® bio-fractionation, and Upspun® hybrid yarn spinning.

Product overview

Earth Protex is a materials platform for textile circularity offering three integrated technology systems. Tex2Tex® (SYS-01) is the commercially scaled flagship product — a proprietary thermo-mechanical recycling (TMR™) system converting textile waste into recycled PET pellets, staple fiber, filament, spun yarn, and fabrics at 120 kt/yr capacity. Upspun® (SYS-02) is a hybrid yarn spinning technology that combines Tex2Tex® filament with recycled staple fibers to create performance-grade yarns (pre-commercial piloting). Agrefinery® is a biofractionation platform converting non-food agricultural residues into fiber (Agrefibre™), polymer (Agreplast™), and chemical (Agrechem™) co-products. Supporting infrastructure includes Tex2Track™ order management, an online product catalogue with 150+ SKUs, and a network of 131 vetted partner mills across 15+ countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tex2Tex®: Textile-to-Textile Recycled Polyester system - a closed-loop system that turns textile waste into high-quality pellets, staple fiber and filament at commercial scale
• Upspun®
• Agrefinery®
• Agraloop™
• Agrefibre™
• Agreplast™
• Agrechem™

Products and services

• Tex2Tex® (TMR™) Recycled Polyester Materials Recycled polyester pellets, staple fiber, and filament yarn produced from post-consumer and pre-consumer textile waste using Earth Protex's proprietary TMR™ thermo-mechanical process. Sold to fashion brands and mills as a drop-in substitute for virgin polyester.
• Upspun® Performance Yarns Hybrid performance yarns produced using Upspun® spinning technology, engineered for apparel, footwear, and technical textile applications requiring high performance characteristics.
• Agrefinery® Bio-Fractionation Bio-fractionation process that recovers cellulose and other fractions from cotton-rich textile waste, complementing TMR™ recycling and enabling circularity for cellulosic fiber streams.
• Recycled Woven & Knit Fabrics Finished woven and knit fabrics produced from Earth Protex's recycled yarns and supplied directly to fashion brands and apparel manufacturers.

Quantifiable outcome

• ~84% lower CO₂ emissions vs virgin polyester; ~34% lower vs bottle RPET; ~76% lower vs chemically recycled PET — independently verified via 3rd party LCA
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers21 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• iTextiles PakistancoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTrusted commercial partner and distributor bringing Earth Protex innovations closer to the Pakistan market and surrounding region. Provides local expertise and market access for Earth Protex materials.
• Kering Innovation LabminorGTM or Marketing PartnerKering Innovation Lab presented Tex2Tex® at Pitti Immagine Uomo in Florence, Italy, as a showcase of sustainable material innovation within the Kering ecosystem.
• Textile ExchangecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarth Protex is a member of Textile Exchange, the global nonprofit setting fiber standards. Participation in preferred fiber programs and sustainability initiatives driving industry-wide circularity standards.
• TCBL (Textile and Clothing Business Labs)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarth Protex is a member of TCBL — the network driving circular, bio-based innovation in textiles and clothing.
• WRAP (Textiles 2030)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPioneering signatory of the UK industry-wide circularity and climate roadmap (Textiles 2030), committing to shared sustainability targets for the textile industry.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Renewcell: Swedish pioneer of commercial-scale textile-to-textile cellulose recycling (Circulose® process). Most direct strategic analog to Earth Protex's Tex2Tex® system, though focused on cellulosics rather than polyester. Filed for restructuring in 2024, illustrating the execution complexity of the tex2tex category.
• Re&Up (Sanko Group): Sanko Group's recycled fiber subsidiary operating commercial-scale textile-to-textile polyester and cotton recycling in Turkey. Closest direct competitor to Earth Protex in rPET staple fiber, filament, and yarn output for apparel brands.
• Circ: US-based startup developing processes to recycle polycotton blends (the dominant apparel fabric) back into constituent materials. Overlapping customer base and problem space with Earth Protex, though Circ tackles cotton-polyester blends vs Earth Protex's polyester-pure focus.
• Worn Again Technologies: UK-based chemical recycling startup aiming to separate and recycle PET and cotton from end-of-use textiles. Competes for the same textile circularity problem and brand customer set, with a fundamentally different (chemical) technical approach.
• Infinited Fiber Company: Finland-based textile-to-textile cellulose recycler using ionic liquid process to convert cotton-rich waste into Infinna™ fiber. Acquired by Suzano in 2024. Direct analog in tex2tex category focused on cellulosics, similar brand customer base.
• Carbios: French biotech company using enzymatic depolymerization to recycle PET back to monomers. Competes for the same brand-sponsored textile-to-textile recycling opportunity but uses fundamentally different (biotech/chemical) technical pathway vs Earth Protex's thermo-mechanical approach.
• Aquafil (Econyl): Italian synthetic fiber manufacturer whose Econyl® brand regenerates nylon waste (fishing nets, carpet) into recycled nylon yarn for apparel. Closely comparable business model — branded recycled filament yarn sold to fashion brands at premium — though substrate is nylon rather than polyester.

Broad incumbents

• Unifi (Repreve): US-based incumbent and largest producer of recycled PET fiber globally via the Repreve® brand. Far larger scale and broader fiber portfolio than Earth Protex, with overlapping fashion brand customers. Represents the incumbent rPET benchmark the company is positioning against.
• Indorama Ventures: World's largest PET resin producer with significant rPET capacity and ongoing investment in textile-to-textile recycling. Petrochemical-scale resources and global resin footprint represent a potentially overwhelming competitive force if they choose to compete down the textile-to-textile stack.
• Eastman: US specialty chemical company with Naia Renew™ and methanolysis-based PET recycling for textiles. Competes for brand sustainability commitments with chemical recycling pathway — the most well-capitalized alternative tech route to textile-to-textile recycling.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/EarthProtex
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/earthprotex

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Earth Protex