Spinnova: world’s first wheat straw-based clothing

Spinnova: world’s first wheat straw-based clothing

Together with the company for sustainable fiber technology Spinnova, Jyväskylä/Finland, the energy company Fortum, Espoo/Finland, introduced the first prototype product born out of their joint development of using wheat straw in the production of highly sustainable textile fiber.
Fortum and Spinnova are showcasing the world’s first clothing made from agricultural waste, namely wheat straw, at the Textile Exchange Sustainability Conference from 15-17 October, 2019, in Vancouver/Canada. The showpieces include a knitted t-shirt, as well as a jacket and skirt made of a woven fabric on organic cotton warp.
The parties announced their partnership earlier this year after testing various biomasses. The showcased straw was first processed with highly sustainable fractionation technology, developed by Fortum’s associate company Chempolis Oy, Oulu/Finland. Spinnova’s technology, presently in a piloting phase, turns microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) directly into fiber mechanically without any dissolving or harmful chemical processes. Fortum and Spinnova plan to establish sustainable fiber production in Fortum’s future biorefineries that will use residual biomasses such as agro waste. The biomass will be processed into materials for bioproducts of lignocellulosic origin, as well as cellulosic products. The refineries will be based on fractionation technology, enabling highly resource-efficient utilization of wheat straw and resulting in significantly lower environmental impact compared to other processing technologies.