HELSINKI – Technology which takes renewable forest raw material and regenerates the cellulose into a textile fibre is set for scaling with the development of a demonstration plant. H&M and Ikea have confirmed they will use the new fibres in their products once commercialised. TreeToTextile AB is a joint venture between H&M group, Inter IKEA group and innovator Lars Stigsson. The partners have this week announced announced that Stora Enso will join the partnership, and support the industrialisation of TreeToTextile’s production process by setting up a demonstration plant at one of its Nordic facilities. Stora Enso Oyj is a manufacturer of pulp, paper and other forest products, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.
TreeToTextile’s technology has aleady been tested in a pilot line in Sweden and scaling is the final stepping stone to commercialisation. Inter IKEA group and H&M group plan to use the fibre in their products, but the aim is that the entire industry should benefit from this sustainable fibre since it can be used in conventional supply chains.
“We are excited to welcome our new partner, Stora Enso, and to share more of the innovative work that we are doing at TreeToTextile. With the help of our new partner, we will be entering an industrialization phase. The new fiber that we have developed is both sustainable and produced at a lower cost,” said Annica Karlsson, chairman of the board, TreeToTextile AB.
The four partners have an equal stake in TreeToTextile and share the belief of a strong market for a fibre with good sustainability performance at attractive cost levels.
“We’re very happy to join this partnership and contribute to a more sustainable textile production. Stora Enso produces dissolving pulp for textiles based on renewable and fully traceable wood from sustainably managed forests. It will be exciting to participate in the industrialisation of this technology at one of our facilities to meet growing demand,” added Markus Mannström, EVP of the Stora Enso Biomaterials division.
“We welcome Stora Enso to this partnership. For us, TreeToTextile is a long-term investment as we strongly believe it will contribute to offering our customers even more sustainably produced products at affordable prices,” said Erik Karlsson, investment manager for Sustainable Fashion at H&M group’s investment arm CO:LAB.
“With Stora Enso as a partner we now add industrial knowledge and deep competence within the cellulose field. This together with existing consumer and textile knowledge as well as an entrepreneurial spirit brings us one step closer to our goal of introducing a new sustainable low-cost fibre for the many people,” added Lena Julle, category area manager textiles at IKEA of Sweden.