Courtney Petak, Commercial Lead
Courtney Petak didn’t enter the textile industry to be just another cog in a broken machine. As a textile engineer with years of experience developing new fabrics, she joined Syre to drive real change. Today, that mission is a reality, as her team has just secured partnerships with two of America’s biggest and most beloved brands.
Over the last decade, Courtney Petak has had a front-row seat to a textile industry in transformation. From the early days of her career, she’s witnessed the gap between the growing need for innovative solutions and the industry’s reluctance to break from the status quo.
You played a key role in securing Syre’s launch partnerships with Gap Inc. and Target. How did these partnerships come together?
“After an initial conversation, we worked through deepdives on topics that are of high importance to the brands: technology, sustainability, LCAs, feedstock, and more. Once we have answered these key questions, we work to establish agreements that secure access to the brand’s desired quantities of circular polyester in the years to come. This is very much a partnership, and we’ll continue to work together to successfully implement circular polyester into supply chains and products. It has been such a pleasure to work with brands like Gap Inc. and Target that are committed to circularity and are willing to be leaders in helping the industry shift towards textile-to-textile recycling. It's a dream come true to work with brands that I love as a consumer to make products that are better for our world and the environment.”
Based on your experience in the textile industry, have you noticed a shift in demand over the past few years?
“Absolutely! For a long time, bottle-to-fiber recycled polyester has been the only alternative to virgin polyester available at a large scale. Although this was a good alternative at the time, we now are seeing a push to keep bottles in their own circular recycling loop and instead focus on textile-to-textile recycling. Not only that, but we’re seeing regulations in Europe and now the US requiring it. With more textile-to-textile solutions becoming available, the industry sees the textile shift starting, and many brands are jumping on board to secure their access to circular materials while they’re still available.”
Syre was founded to meet the rising demand for circular polyester. How do brands express the demand?
“Brands have established and published sustainability goals which have typically included measurable goals like using a percentage of recycled materials, reducing carbon emissions, reducing waste, etc. Many brands have met their 2025 goals with bottle-to-fiber solutions, but now it’s time to decide on 2030 goals and beyond. With new textile-to-textile solutions becoming available, many brands are now establishing their circularity goals and committing to using circular polyester in the coming years.”
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