One of the problems being faced within the textile industry is the growing demand for cotton. Looking to solve this problem is Infinited Fiber Company Ltd (IFC). They have come up with a technology that enables textile waste to be used over and over again. They did this by finding a new way of producing a robust and sustainable fibre that can achieve commercial quality requirements.
Partnering Up With The Vision To Be Fully Circular
So far IFC has raised 3.7 million euros in funding from investors like the H&M Group, Fortum, a leading clean energy and resource efficiency company, and Finnish investment company Virala. On their new partnership with IFC, Erik Karlsson, Investment Manager for Sustainable Fashion at H&M group’s investment arm CO: LAB said: “We’re excited about the collaboration with Infinited Fiber Company. Their innovation aligns perfectly with the H&M group’s sustainability goals and our vision to become fully circular. Infinited Fiber has proven the significant potential to accelerate the journey from a linear to circular fashion industry. We look forward to being part of developing and scaling this technology in the coming years”
Focusing on bio-based solutions, Heli Antila, head of Fortum’s business adds: “Fortum is studying possibilities to grow business that is based on the more efficient use of biomass. We believe strongly in biorefining, new technologies and their role in a more sustainably produced textile fibre”.
Future Music
IFC is currently running a 50-ton pilot plant in Finland and plans to increase the annual capacity of the next generation sustainable textile fibre production up to 500 tons to meet the growing demand from the market. “The global denim industry is pushing us to bring our solutions to the market. Our reborn Infinited Fiber is reusable forever, carbon neutral and applicable like natural cotton without any microplastics harming the environment”, says Petri Alava, CEO of IFC.
In addition to cotton rich textile waste, the Infinited Fiber manufacturing process can use most material containing cellulose, e.g. recycled paper, cardboard and agricultural waste such as straw – nevertheless, the reborn fibre will be the same. Properties of the Infinited Fiber include a naturally soft look and feel, consistently proven quality, 30-40% better colour uptake than competing fibres, it’s antibacterial and bio-degradable and has excellent moisture absorption qualities. Also, it has total cost competitiveness in the textile production supply chain.
With interest in their innovation growing, the sale of the first licensed commercial plant with a capacity of 25,000 tons is scheduled for 2020-2021. As for the pilot plant, it started production in March 2018 and is already selling solutions to several leading global brands.
