During Techtextil 2022 in Frankfurt, Infinited Fibre Company announced plans to build a commercial-scale factory to produce its regenerated textile fibre.

It will be sited at Stora Enso’s mothballed Veitsiluoto paper mill in Kemi, a Finnish city on the northern shore of the Baltic Sea.

The cost of the investment is estimated at €400 million, and is expected to create around 270 jobs in the area. The annual fibre production capacity of the planned factory will be 30,000 metric tons – equivalent to the fibre needed for about 100 million T-shirts. 

Infinited’s technology enables cotton-rich textile waste to be transformed into a versatile, high-quality regenerated textile fibre called Infinna, which looks and feels like cotton.

Major international fashion and apparel companies – including Bestseller, H&M Group, Zara’s parent company Inditex, Pangaia, Patagonia, and PVH Europe, which is known for the Tommy Hilfiger brand – have already committed to Infinna purchases through multi-year agreements as they look for materials that enable the industry to shift towards circularity.

Infinited expects to export most of the output of its planned factory, which makes Kemi an ideal location – the city’s port serves as very efficient link to the rest of the world.

Infinited will convert a building housing a discontinued paper production line into an Infinna fibre factory. Both the factory engineering and project implementation, as well as the related financing negotiations, commenced at the beginning of the year and are progressing well. It has also agreed on the provision of energy and water related services with utility infrastructure company Nevel.

The factory is expected to be operating at full capacity by 2025.

“Circularity is at the heart of our business,” said CEO and co-founder Petri Alava.  “We aim to make use of existing resources in all that we do, which makes the historic Veitsiluoto industrial site a great fit for us. At the same time, we will be creating new export products and jobs. Finland has solid bioeconomy know-how and is very supportive of circular economy innovations. We see these as major strengths that will enable Finland to become a leader in the creation of the new, circular economy-based textile industry value chain.”

Infinited selected the Veitsiluoto industrial site after reviewing dozens of potential premises across Finland. Decisive factors supporting the decision included the site’s excellent existing infrastructure, the availability of fresh water, renewable electricity and energy, efficient port services and local skilled labour.

“We are pleased to get part of the Veitsiluoto site utilised and happy about the investments and jobs that Infinited is set to bring there,” said Stora Enso CFO and Finland country manager Seppo Parvi.

www.infinitedfibre.com