Circulose can replace most of the MMCF made from wood pulp
Renewcell is a fast-growing Swedish textile recycling company with a unique technology and a world-class team of people on a mission to change the global textile industry for the better. The company plans to recycle the equivalent of more than 1.4 billion T-shirts every year by 2030. The company is soon adding a new facility that will make Circulose out of 100 per cent textile waste. COO Martin Stenfors speaks to Fibre2Fashion about production and application of Circulose.
What will be the manufacturing capacity of the company after the addition of the new facility?
When our new facility at Ortviken in Sundsvall opens, the capacity for producing Circulose will be 60,000 metric tonnes per year. To translate that to actual garments, it is equivalent of producing around 300 million T-shirts. On top of that a decision has already been made to further scale up production in Ortviken to 120,000 metric tonnes per year.
What are the challenges when it comes to scaling businesses like Renewcell? How do you manage it?
Since we have proven the production process during the last couple of years in our demonstration plant in Kristinehamn, we know that the process works, so the two main challenges have been financing and to run a large project to build a plant during COVID and managing the follow-on effects of cost pressure and supply chain disruptions. The main financing of the project was done though an IPO at Nasdaq First North Premier in Stockholm and also debt financing though the European Investment Bank and Export Credit Financing. Our project management team has been working relentlessly and successfully for the last 18 months to mitigate the effects of COVID.
In your conversations with suppliers, what is the level of interest in using alternative materials communicated by brands and retailers?
The interest is really high from all parts of the fashion value chain, both from brands and retailers, and garments manufacturers. All are looking forward to our increased production capacity that allows us to supply more Circulose to the market.
Do you see the necessary shift by big brands in choice of materials happening?
In short: Yes. The brands we are talking to are very active in looking for more sustainable materials.
To get a rough estimate, what is the percentage of global demand for cellulose fabrics and Circulose?
The total market for man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCF) is around six million tons per year and with our new plant we can replace one per cent of the volume. This means that 99 per cent of the MMCF fibres still will be produced using virgin wood pulp instead of recycled fibres. In many applications other fibre types can also be replaced by Circulose. One example is when Levi’s launched a collection with 501s where 40 per cent of the cotton was replaced by viscose. So, the market potential is truly large!
Which are the major markets for Circulose?
From a geographical perspective, it is global. Fibres made from Circulose can replace most of the MMCF made from wood pulp and can also replace cotton and polyester to a certain degree.
What new applications do you see for Circulose?
So far Circulose has been tested in a wide range of different applications, such as dresses, women’s tops and pants, denim, dress shirts, polo shirts and different jersey applications and more is coming.
How many brands or suppliers were you associated with when you first began? What is the number now?
We have had a long relationship with H&M, since 2017, that has been very important for us. H&M is a shareholder in Renewcell and was the first brand to launch garments made from Circulose. Since then, we have launched commercial collections with several other brands including Levi’s, Bestseller and Ganni with more to come in the coming months!
Do you plan to expand in Asia anytime soon?
Our focus now is on starting up and then scaling up our plant in Ortviken, but in the long term we will have production capacity in Asia as well.
What are the long-term goals and plans at Renewcell?
We have a long-term goal to reach 360,000 metric tonnes capacity annually to help the fashion industry become more circular and successful in reaching their ambitious sustainability targets.
Published on: 07/07/2022
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
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