With the support of the first investors - Finland's Technical Research Centre (VTT), Spinnova was founded by Juha Salmela and Janne Poranen in early 2015. Spinnova is a sustainable deeptech company that has developed a disruptive technology for manufacturing cellulose-based textile fibres. Emmi Berlin, head of Communications at Spinnova, discusses the company's goal to industrially scale up its technology to big volumes in joint venture operations with brand owners and raw material providers, in a chat with Paulami Chatterjee.
What kind of study went behind this unique nanocellulose technology? What was the duration of the study and how many people were involved?
The invention was first made by the VTT's (Finland's Technical Research Center) pulp and paper scientist Juha Salmela in 2009. Salmela was inspired by similarities between nanocellulose and spider's web. He thought what if we could imitate this natural process of extruding thin filament with high pressure so that we would not need to dissolve or use dissolved pulp, but instead paper grade pulp. He studied this with his team at the VTT for a few years on a laboratory scale, and in early 2015, he and co-founder Janne Poranen spun the innovation off and started Spinnova. Since then, we have come from laboratory scale to an operating pilot factory and from five people to 35, in just five years.
How are you gearing up to join the Helsinki Fashion Week, which is the first ever 3D fashion week supposed to take place from July 27 to August 1, 2020?
We are mentoring two designers, Patrick McDowell (UK) and Kohji Taisuke (Japan), who will use Spinnova as part of their collections. So far this seems like a great collaboration despite it being all digital. The designers have now received our material, and at the end of July we will see what they have made of it. We are humbled and happy about their open-minded attitude towards a fibre that's still a work in progress, not that these are the first demos that we have had made.
You showcased the world's first wheat-straw based clothing in partnership with Fortum earlier last year. Any further innovation on that?
The wheat straw development is very exciting too, and brands as well as consumers seem to be very enthusiastic about it. However, the industrial development of this depends on the raw material suppliers, and we cannot comment this on behalf of third parties.
Has the mass production of your industrial pilot begun yet? What is your business model right now?
We now have proof of concept from our pilot, and are planning for our first commercial factory, so you could say we would be in a pre-commercial stage for another 1.5-2 years. We are working closely with global brand owners on developing products that may be the first commercial products as production starts, and these brand owners hopefully become our first customers. The industrial scaling will be done in a joint venture model with our strategic partners.
By when are products expected to hit the markets?
We estimate that our commercial factory will be in operation and the fibre available in 2022, but this could go faster too. As said, the market is eagerly waiting for this fibre to become available.
What's on the cards next? What new partnerships in pipeline?
We hope to be able to shed some more light on our commercial factory plans soon, and also are eager to announce new brand partnerships, too, but not quite yet.
How has covid-19 played out in your country? How has it impacted businesses?
Finland did not suffer from the pandemic as much as some other countries as we took a 'stay at home' approach early on. Finns are very good at doing what the government tells them. Of course businesses, especially small ones were affected, for example the service industry. But I think the real economic impact will be seen later on.
Where are your factories based at?
So far we have a pilot factory in Jyväskylä, central Finland.
How do you source your raw materials?
We have a great strategic, industrial partner in one of the world's biggest pulp companies, Suzano of Brazil. The wood we use as our raw material is FSC and PEFC certified, and comes from CO2 positive nurseries. Hence, this feedstock is both sustainable and ample, as Suzano produces more pulp than all Finnish pulp companies in total; some 11 million tonnes per annum.
How has the lockdown impacted your company? What are the immediate concerns?
We didn't have a full lockdown, as the pandemic situation in our area was so good. A majority of our staff worked normally, of course paying extra attention to hygiene and distancing. All of our brand partners were affected, as they are in the textile and retail industry; however the pandemic has so far had very little effect on our collaborations. It's been humbling to see we have chosen brand partners who are so committed to a more sustainable future that they don't let a pandemic stop that development.
By when are you expecting the revival process to commence in Finland?
We are already out of the contingency situation and almost back to normal, so the revival process is already ongoing.
What innovations are you planning to bring into your business going forward?
We are now focusing on developing our wood-based, sustainable fibre into a commercially viable, drop-in product for brand value chains. Alongside this, we have some exciting waste-based fibre development ongoing, but there is no news we can share about them right now.
Where is the demand for such sustainable clothing coming from? What is the future scope of application?
I think consumers' awareness is growing rapidly, and the demand for sustainable options comes from the consumers; but there is also a need from within the brands to change. There seems to be a lot of market pull for both wood-based and waste-based cellulosic fibre that is produced with minimal water and emissions, and no harmful chemicals.
How has the sourcing of raw materials been affected by the lockdown?
So far not in any way. The only effects we had were in our R&D supply chain, i.e. yarn and fabric makers, but those were minor delays.
Based on consumer preferences, how are businesses going to get altered now? What role will technology have in it?
We believe that the pandemic has made us take a pause and think about the environment, climate crisis and how our lifestyles as consumers and companies affect that. Hopefully the textile industry will take a step towards a more sustainable future, and new technologies like our sustainable fibre tech will potentially be very disruptive.
What are the trends and expectations of people with respect to sustainable fashion?
According to a consumer survey we have made in five countries, yet to be published, we have found that consumers are quite interested in clothing materials, but the awareness of what their environmental impacts are, could be improved. Most consumers seem very keen on new materials, if they save water, waste, emissions and harmful chemicals like ours. Waste-based materials also seem to be very attractive.
Of course we hope that sustainable fashion will be the new norm, with new, sustainable materials scaling up, consumer behaviour changing etc. Our vision is to have Spinnova fibre available for everyone at a reasonable price. If an innovation is a luxury item, it won't have the environmental impact it was intended for.
This article was first published in the August 2020 edition of the print magazine.
Published on: 29/08/2020
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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