A major clean-tech investment is headed to Rochester. Governor Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday that French textile regeneration company Reju plans to build a $390 million textile-to-textile regeneration hub at Eastman Business Park, marking the company’s first facility in North America.
The project will be located on an 18.9-acre vacant lot in the City of Rochester and is expected to create approximately 70 new jobs, including positions for engineers, technicians, machinists, and production workers. Reju anticipates the facility will be operational by the end of 2029.
Reju is a materials regeneration company focused on transforming discarded textiles into high-quality, reusable materials. Using proprietary technology developed with IBM Research, the Rochester facility will regenerate polyester textiles and post-consumer plastic waste into what the company calls Reju Polyester. Officials say the process supports a circular economy by turning waste into a resource.
Once fully operational, the facility is expected to regenerate the equivalent of 300 million articles of clothing each year that would otherwise end up in landfills. The regenerated polyester is designed to be recyclable multiple times and has a carbon footprint about 50 percent lower than that of virgin polyester, reducing the industry’s reliance on fossil-based materials.
Following site remediation, Reju plans to construct a 145,000-square-foot facility at Eastman Business Park. Through partnerships with global brands, mills, and waste aggregators, the company will convert garments destined for landfills or incineration into yarns and fabrics ready for consumer use.
“New York State is committed to creating good-paying jobs and supporting innovative projects that keep materials out of landfills and protect our planet,” Governor Hochul said. “Reju’s ambitious project will create approximately 70 new jobs and demonstrate how smart investments can turn waste into opportunity, further strengthening our green economy.”
Reju is owned by Technip Energies, a global engineering and technology company with more than 17,000 employees in 34 countries. The company has been operating a pilot facility in Frankfurt, Germany since October 2024 and announced plans in May 2025 for its first full-scale European operation in the Netherlands.
Reju CEO Patrik Frisk called the Rochester site a major step forward for the company’s global expansion. “As our first regeneration hub in the United States, this site selection in Rochester is a major leap forward in building a truly global circular system,” Frisk said. “We are proud to bring sustainable manufacturing and jobs to the Rochester community and to invest in a future where post-consumer textile waste becomes a resource, not a liability.”
Empire State Development is assisting the project with a $4 million capital grant and is offering up to $1 million through the performance-based Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit Program in exchange for job creation commitments. Monroe County, the City of Rochester, and Greater Rochester Enterprise are also supporting the project.
