Swedish firms advance novel textile processes

Abstract

Sweden is emerging as a hub for sustainable textiles. Renewcell recently announced that it will open a waste-textile recycling facility in Sweden. And now the Swedish start-up TreeToTextile says it will soon begin building a demonstration plant that uses a novel process to convert wood into cellulose-based textile fiber. TreeToTextile uses dissolving wood pulp as its main raw material in a cold alkaline dissolution process. Other firms, such as Lenzing, already make cellulosic fibers from wood pulp. But TreeToTextile claims its process will use at least 33% less energy, 70% fewer processing chemicals, and 80% less water compared with other cellulosic fiber processes. TreeToTextile is owned by three Swedish companies—furniture maker Ikea, clothing retailer H&M Group, and finance group LSCS Invest—and the Finnish pulp and paper firm Stora Enso. The demonstration facility will cost about $43 million, with the partners providing $33 million and the Swedish Energy Agency paying for