Business

TreeToTextile's Demonstration Plant To Upscale Sustainable Textile Fibre

TreeToTextile is committed to enabling brands and companies to have access to sustainable textile fibres. TreeToTextile offers a new technology to produce biobased textile fibres with a low environmental footprint at an attractive cost level. The new fibre is a regenerated cellulosic fibre, produced from renewable and sustainably sourced raw materials from the forest. TreeToTextile's strong sustainability performance is confirmed by a third party verified Life-Cycle-Assessment study. Looking at the sustainability targets, the new technology would mean less use of energy, chemicals and water when benchmarked to the production of conventional fibres. The novel process is deliberately designed to have low energy demand and low chemical need. It is engineered to suit large scale production and includes a recovery system for reusing chemicals. TreeToTextile is now investing to construct a demonstration plant for upscaling the process technology. The cost is Euro 35 million, which is funded with an investment of Euro 27.4 million from the owners, H&M Group, Inter IKEA Group, Stora Enso, and LSCS Invest, and a grant of Euro 7.6 million from the Swedish Energy Agency. The plant will be established at Stora Enso's Nymölla mill in southern Sweden, and the construction will start in spring 2021. The production capacity will be 1500 tons of fibre per year. "The key to creating real change is cooperation. We are a young organisation and at the beginning of our operations, but by investing in a demonstration plant, we are finally on the go. With it we are turning years of R&D into reality to increase the biobased share on the textile market to support climate action. That is why this is an important point in time, not only for TreeToTextile," says Roxana Barbieru, Chairwoman of TreeToTextile/Vice President, Emerging Businesses and Alliances Management, Biomaterials at Stora Enso.