What Martex Fiber does

Martex Fiber is a privately held industrial textile recycler founded in 1975 and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, with operating facilities in Brownsville, Texas (a fiber manufacturing plant for post-consumer textiles) and across Central America and the Caribbean via wholly-owned subsidiaries in Honduras (Martex Fiber International SRL, serving as regional HQ), Nicaragua (Martex Fiber International SA), and the Dominican Republic. The company purchases pre-consumer and post-consumer textile waste from mills and other generators, then processes and resells the output. The company's product portfolio spans two core categories: Recycled Fiber Sales (regenerated cotton/PET shoddy and engineered reclaimed fiber blends, including specialty and flame-retardant variants for nonwovens, spinning, insulation, automotive, bedding, home furnishings, filtration, and casket applications) and Rag Sales (post-industrial textile by-products such as cuttings, wipers, remnants, thread waste, and fiber waste). The company describes itself as the largest supplier of post-industrial wiping rags in North America.

Underlying operations center on the branded 360° Recycling Process — sorting textile waste by fiber type, fiber content, and color; machining it into reclaimed fiber; and routing material through Brownsville for post-consumer processing to close the loop back to usable fiber. The process is dry-only: Martex explicitly avoids wet processing (no water contamination or effluent) and does not melt plastics (avoiding chemical emissions), and uses customized blending and processing equipment to produce specification-grade output. Annual throughput exceeds 160 million pounds, supported by a fleet of approximately 100 trailers for collection, and the company guarantees all purchased waste is recycled under its Zero Landfill Pledge. Certifications include ISO 9001:2015 (quality management) and C-TPAT (supply chain security), plus Dodd-Frank Conflict Minerals compliance.

Commercially, Martex Fiber operates a sales-led B2B model with regional sales representatives organized by product division (Fiber Division, Rag Division, Central America) and customer-side inquiries handled via website forms. Revenue mechanics are dual-direction: the company pays textile mills for waste (a reverse-waste economics that converts a disposal cost line into supplier revenue), and sells recovered fiber, rags, and engineered products to industrial manufacturers across at least nine end-markets globally. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The company employs 501-1,000 staff and has been led by CEO Steve Lister, with a senior team including Russ McAlister (SVP Operations), Jamie Jarrett (VP Technical Services), Reynel Pacheco (Managing Director, Central American Operations), and Tim Ciurlik (CFO). A 2012 growth-equity round from Milestone Partners ($15.5M) is the only disclosed funding event.

Name

Martex Fiber

Legal name

Martex Fiber Internacional, S. de R.L. de C.V.

Website

https://martexfiber.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Martex Fiber is a 50-year-old private textile recycler that purchases pre-consumer and post-consumer textile waste from mills, then sells reclaimed fiber and post-industrial by-products to industrial manufacturers across insulation, automotive, bedding, and other verticals globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Textile Recycling

NAICS

Textile Mills (313), Fiber, Yarn, and Thread Mills (31311)

SIC

Textile Mill Products (2200), Wholesale-Apparel, Piece Goods & Notions (5130)

akta.pro primary industry

Textile & Apparel Recycling and Sorting (Non-E-waste) (BPALADAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Mechanical Fiber Recycling (Shredding/Open-End/Re-fiberization) (IMAOAMAB), Textile-to-Textile Feedstock Preparation (De-trimming/De-buttoning/De-zipping/Contaminant Removal) (IMAOAMAE), Recycled Textile Compounding & Nonwoven Reprocessing (Insulation/Felts/Geotextiles) (IMAOAMAH), Regenerated & Recycled Fiber Production (rPET/rNylon/Regenerated Cellulose) (IMAOAMAD)

Keywords

• Textile recycling
• Reclaimed fiber
• Post-industrial textiles
• Recycled fiber products
• Textile waste management

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlotte

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Textile Waste Purchasing and Recycling Services: Martex Fiber purchases textile waste from textile mills, providing suppliers with revenue rather than charging for landfill disposal. The company recycles the waste into usable products, generating revenue through subsequent sale of recycled materials.
2. Recycled Fiber Sales: Sale of regenerated fiber (e.g., cotton/pet shoddy) as cost-effective alternatives to virgin materials, serving industries including insulation, automotive, bedding, home furnishings, filtration, and caskets. Revenue is generated through product sales to manufacturers.
3. Rag Sales: Sale of post-industrial textile by-products including cuttings, wipers, remnants, thread waste, and fiber waste to manufacturers across various industries. Martex Fiber is described as one of the leading traders of post-industrial textile by-products.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Martex Fiber purchases pre-consumer and post-consumer textile waste from textile mills and recycles it into reclaimed fiber (cotton/PET shoddy), engineered fiber blends, and post-industrial by-products (cuttings, wipers, remnants, thread waste) for sale to industrial manufacturers. The company also provides waste management services (trailer service, all-inclusive waste service, in-plant services, and waste management training) to textile mills, operating its proprietary 360° Recycling Process.

Product overview

Martex Fiber operates as North America's premier textile recycler offering an integrated portfolio of waste management services and recycled textile products. The core offering includes Recycled Fiber Sales and Rag Sales as the primary product lines, supported by a comprehensive suite of waste services (All-Inclusive Waste Service, Trailer Service, In-Plant Services, Waste Management Training, and Revenue Maximizing). The company's 360° Recycling Process underpins the entire operation, enabling complete downstream recycling of textile waste. Products include Recycled Textiles (cuttings, wipers, remnants, thread waste, fiber waste), Reclaimed Fiber (engineered fiber blends with optional specialty or flame retardant treatments), and specialized Cellulosic Applications for paper, insulation, and vulcanized fiber manufacturing. Martex Fiber handles over 160 million pounds of waste per year and guarantees all purchased waste will be recycled under its Zero Landfill Pledge.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Recycled Fiber Sales Cost-effective regenerated fiber (cotton/PET shoddy) produced via customized blending and processing equipment for nonwovens and spinning applications; sold to industrial manufacturers in insulation, automotive, bedding, home furnishings, filtration, and casket industries.
• Rag Sales Post-industrial textile by-products (wipers, remnants, thread waste, cuttings) sold to manufacturers in yarn spinning, cellulosic/paper, insulation, apparel, and plastics industries.
• All-Inclusive Waste Service Comprehensive waste management service for textile mills that collects all mill waste, including non-textile materials such as cardboard and metal, with full recycling coordination.
• Trailer Service Trailer fleet service of approximately 100 trailers deployed at customer docks for scheduled or on-demand pickup of textile waste.
• In-Plant Services On-site waste management partnership at textile mill facilities focused on maximizing revenue from waste streams.
• Waste Management Training Training programs to help textile mills improve waste management processes, increase waste stream quality, and maximize the value of their textile waste.

Quantifiable outcome

• Processes over 160 million pounds of textile waste per year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Yarn spinnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMartex Fiber has partnered with yarn spinners who utilize post-industrial textile material as an integral part of their manufacturing structure. These partners source recycled textile by-products from Martex Fiber for use in spinning operations.
• Cellulosic and paper manufacturerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMartex Fiber supplies recycled cotton textiles to cellulosic and paper manufacturers as a raw material input for their production processes. The company can provide consistent supply of waste meeting specifications for bleachability and fluorescence.
• Insulation manufacturerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMartex Fiber partners with insulation manufacturers, supplying post-industrial textile material as a primary component in insulation products. These partnerships support green initiatives and provide sustainable raw materials.
• Apparel manufacturerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMartex Fiber supplies recycled textile by-products to apparel manufacturers as an additive or component in their manufacturing processes, supporting sustainability and green initiative goals.
• Plastics manufacturerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMartex Fiber supplies post-industrial textile material to plastics manufacturers who utilize it as an integral part of their manufacturing structure, supporting circular economy goals.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Unifi, Inc. Public US manufacturer of recycled synthetic fibers (Repreve) serving apparel, automotive, and home furnishings — a broader incumbent in recycled fiber with brand-direct programs that overlap Martex's automotive and home-furnishing customers.
• Birla Cellulose (Aditya Birla Group): Global leader in regenerated cellulosic fiber (viscose/lyocell) including recycled-content variants — competes for the same cellulosic/paper and apparel yarn-spinning customers Martex supplies, while operating at vastly greater scale.

Emerging players

• Worn Again Technologies: UK-based chemical recycler developing polyester-cotton separation and depolymerization — competes for the same post-consumer and post-industrial blended textile streams Martex relies on, but attacks the blended-fiber problem Martex's mechanical process cannot solve.
• Renewcell (Circulose): Swedish chemical recycler producing dissolving-grade pulp from 100% recycled cotton textiles — directly addresses the cellulosic/paper and yarn-spinning offtake channels Martex serves today, representing the most direct competitive threat in fiber-to-fiber value chain.
• Circ: US-based chemical recycler recovering polyester and cellulose from blended textile waste — targets the same post-consumer and post-industrial feedstock Martex handles, with technology aimed at higher-value fiber-to-fiber outputs than mechanical recycling.

Direct peers

• USAgain: US-based textile collector and recycler operating drop-off and curbside collection networks that feed sorted used clothing and wipers into downstream resale and recycling streams — comparable in feedstock model and US market presence.
• Leigh Fibers: One of the closest direct peers: a long-standing US-based textile waste recycler and shoddy fiber producer supplying insulation, automotive, bedding, and home-furnishing end markets with reclaimed fiber — overlapping almost line-for-line with Martex's Fiber Division offering and customer base.
• Texaid: One of Europe's largest textile sorting and recycling companies, performing the same post-consumer and post-industrial sort-and-recover function as Martex — a strong operational comparator even though geographically focused in Europe.
• Trans-Americas Textile Recycling: Textile recycler operating across the Americas with similar feedstock sourcing (mill waste) and recycled-fiber/rag output, competing for both supplier relationships with textile mills and offtake to industrial manufacturers in the same geographies as Martex.
• Prokotex: European recycler and trader of textile by-products, cuttings, and wiping rags — directly comparable to Martex's Rag Division in product portfolio, customer base, and commodity-grade recycled textile supply.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 Martex Fiber