TreeToTextile builds trial plant for upscaling sustainable textile fibre
With an increasing demand for sustainable textile fibres worldwide, TreeToTextile, a joint venture established in 2014, is offering a new technology to produce sustainable textile fibres. The venture is using scalable technology at low manufacturing costs to make sustainable fibres more available. Confirmed by third-party verified Life-Cycle-Assessment Study, the new technology will use less energy, chemicals, and water than conventional fibre production. It is engineered to suit large-scale production and will also include a recovery system for reusing chemicals. “Our technology has the potential to reduce the environmental footprint of the textile industry significantly. With our owners’ support, innovative agendas, know-how, and size, we assess that TreeToTextile can play an important contributing part globally in enabling the textile industry to become sustainable and circular,” said Sigrid Barnekow, TreeToTextile CEO. The association co-owned by H&M Group, Inter Ikea Group, LSCS Invest, and Stora Enso, has investment of 27.4 million euros and a grant of 7.6 million euros from the Swedish Energy Agency to construct a demonstration plant in Sweden to upscale the process technology. Construction will begin later this year, and when complete is expected to produce about 1500 tonnes of fibre annually. “The key to creating real change is cooperation,” said Roxana Barbieru, TreeToTextile’s chairwoman. “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 bio-based share of the textile market to support climate action. That is why this is an important point in time, not only for TreeToTextile.”
