From the Sector

• ROICA™ V550 by Asahi Kasei for its responsible RF (Residual Free) line

Innova Fabrics, the Italian manufacturer of knitted fabrics for apparel, underwear and sports, confirms its choice of ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei, the Japanese leader of premium stretch fiber, for its new responsible line RF (Residual Free).

Despite the deep-rooted history of the company's team in the world of textiles, Innova Fabrics is a reality that is not afraid to innovate with a focus on environmental sustainability. As a result of its push for local production and attention to third-party sustainability certifications (including OEKO-TEX Standard 100, one of the world's best-known labels for textiles tested for harmful substances), Innova Fabrics continues its promise of responsibility with an enrichment of its conscious proposals. In the last season, Innova has increased its smart proposition by launching the RF (Residual Free) line, with the aim of reducing the impact of microplastics residues produced by the fashion industry. This is possible thanks to the combination of two responsible ingredients: SENSIL® Biocare by Nilit and ROICA™ V550 by Asahi Kasei.

SENSIL® BioCare is the premium, sustainable nylon 6.6 fiber enriched with a special technology that helps reduce the persistence of textile waste in the ocean and landfills by acting during and after the product's life cycle. Therefore, if the microplastics in SENSIL® BioCare garments are released during washing, they will decompose much faster than conventional Nylon 6.6 fibers, reducing textile waste. ROICA™ V550, part of the ROICA Eco-Smart™ family, is the premium, sustainable stretch yarn that degrades without releasing harmful substances into the environment, according to the Hohenstein's environmental certification. ROICA™ V550 also carries the Gold Level Material Health certificate from the Cradle-to-Cradle Product Innovation Institute, which evaluated the yarn's impact on human and environmental health. The strong relationship established between Innova Fabrics and ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei is a long-standing one: from the very beginning, the textile company chose ROICA™ as its main reference for premium stretch, using ROICA Colour Perfect™ in most of its articles. Having experienced the innovation of the ROICA™ line dedicated to high-quality color, Innova decided to opt for the ROICA Eco-Smart™ line as part of the extension of its environmentally conscious line.

Thanks to the constant synergy with its premium partner in innovative and responsible stretch, Innova continues its path towards a textile and fashion industry that respects the planet, without forgetting profit. And this is just the beginning. Innova Fabrics pieces containing SENSIL® BioCare and ROICA™ V550

Circular fashion and textile technology group Infinited Fiber Company has secured investments totaling 30 million euros in its latest financing round completed on June 30. The round also brought Infinited Fiber Company new investors, including sportswear company adidas, Invest FWD A/S, which is BESTSELLER’s investment arm for sustainable fashion, and investment company Security Trading Oy. Among the existing investors contributing to this round of financing were fashion retailer H&M Group, who was the lead investor, investment company Nidoco AB, and Sateri, the world’s largest viscose producer and a member of the RGE group of companies.

This securement of new funding follows Infinited Fiber Company’s April announcement of plans to build a flagship factory in Finland in response to the strong growth in demand from global fashion and textile brands for its regenerated textile fiber Infinna™. The factory, which will use household textile waste as raw material, is expected to be operational in 2024 and to have an annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tons. The new funding enables Infinited Fiber Company to carry out the work needed to prepare for the flagship factory investment and to increase production at its pilot facilities in the years leading to 2024.

“We are really happy to welcome our new investors and grateful for the continued support from our older investors,” said Infinited Fiber Company co-founder and CEO Petri Alava. “These new investments enable us to proceed at full speed with the pre-engineering, environmental permits, and the recruitment of the skilled professionals needed to take our flagship project forward. We can now also boost production at our pilot facilities so that we can better serve our existing customers and grow our customer-base in preparation for both our flagship factory and for the future licensees of our technology.”

H&M Group is one of Infinited Fiber Company’s earliest investors. They first invested in Infinited Fiber Company in 2019.

H&M Group has also signed a multiyear sales deal with Infinited Fiber Company to secure its access to agreed amounts of Infinna from the planned flagship factory.

New investor BESTSELLER has struck a similar sales deal with Infinited Fiber Company.

In addition to strong interest by global fashion leaders, the technology has significant promise for major textile fiber producers. Allen Zhang, President of Sateri, said: “Sateri is excited to continue to invest in and collaborate with Infinited Fiber Company as part of our long-term commitment towards closed-loop, circular and climate-positive cellulosic fibers. This financing round marks a major milestone for our collaboration in scaling up next-generation fiber solutions.”

Infinited Fiber Company’s flagship plant preparations are also proceeding on other fronts. Several Nordic and international investment banks have given Infinited Fiber Company proposals on the financing options for the investment.

Infinited Fiber Company’s technology turns cellulose-based raw materials, like cotton-rich textile waste, into Infinna, a unique, premium-quality regenerated textile fiber with the natural, soft look and feel of cotton. Infinna is biodegradable and contains no microplastics, and at the end of their life, garments made with it can be recycled in the same process together with other textile waste.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö has expanded its portfolio of biodegradable and renewable fiber-based solutions for food packaging papers, receiving compostability certification from the Biodegradable Products Institute®.

Continuing to be at the forefront of sustainable product offerings, Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s FluoroFree® and ParaFree® food packaging papers produced in North America are now BPI® certified, in addition to offering multiple sustainability attributes in a single product.  

These certifications facilitate the possibility for Ahlstrom-Munksjö customers, whether converters or brand owners, to achieve their own sustainability goals. By using a scientific process, BPI officially certifies compostable products that meet ASTM D6400 and ASTM D6868 standards for compostability. BPI Certification proves that a material will compost in a commercial composting facility, leaving behind no toxic residue or microplastics.

In addition, Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s ParaFree® Wax Alternative papers have achieved BPI Certifcation; papers manufactured without the addition of paraffin or other petroleum-based materials. ParaFree® products create a more sustainable alternative to this type of widely used quick service restaurant packaging. These products maintain a high-level of performance and are stronger on a pound-for-pound basis, allowing for improved yield and lower transportation costs and reducing its overall impact.

• Organic Waste Systems and TÜV confirm fiber biodegradability also in fresh water
• All white LENZING™ Viscose, Modal and Lyocell fibers are now certified for all environments
• Global legislators aim at limiting plastic waste persisting in the environment for centuries
• EU Single-Use Plastics Directive partly regulates usage of plastic products
• Biodegradable materials such as wood-based fibers are the best alternative to single-use plastics

The Lenzing Group received confirmation of the full biodegradability of its fibers in fresh water by the independent research laboratory Organic Waste Systems (OWS). The new and existing international certifications conducted by OWS and issued by TÜV Austria verify that LENZING™ Viscose fibers, LENZING™ Modal fibers and LENZING™ Lyocell fibers are biodegradable in all natural and industrial environments: in the soil, compost as well as in fresh and in marine water.

The biodegradability of cellulosic products and the synthetic fiber polyester was tested in fresh water at OWS according to valid international standards, e.g. ISO 14851. At the end of the trial period, LENZING™ wood-based cellulosic fibers, cotton and paper pulp were shown to be fully biodegradable in fresh water in contrast to synthetic polyester fibers. The fact that synthetic materials are not biodegradable leads to major problems in wastewater treatment plants and potentially marine litter. In turn, this not only harms fish and birds living in and close to the oceans but also all marine organisms and us humans.

“The Lenzing Group operates a truly circular business model based on the renewable raw material wood to produce biodegradable fibers returning to nature after use. This complete cycle comprises the starting point of the core value of sustainability embedded in our company strategy sCore TEN and is the ‘raison d’etre’ of our company”, says Stefan Doboczky, Chief Executive Officer of the Lenzing Group. “In living up to this positioning, we not only enhance the business of our suppliers, customers and partners along the value chain but also improve the state of the entire textile and nonwovens industries.”

Both the textile and nonwovens industries face huge challenges with respect to littering. If current trends continue, the oceans could contain more plastic than fish by 2050. Therefore, legislative bodies worldwide can no longer ignore the issue and have moved towards plastics legislation aimed at limiting the vast amount of waste. In response, European lawmakers issued the Single-Use Plastics Directive currently being transposed into national legislation in the EU member states.

Conventional wet wipes and hygiene products mostly contain plastic and were thus identified as one of the product categories to be singled out. Less polluting alternatives are generally encouraged by NGOs and legislators, e.g. products made of biodegradable wood-based cellulosic fibers. Plastic waste including microplastic can persist in the environment for centuries. In contrast, biodegradable materials are the best alternative to single-use plastics because they fully convert back to nature by definition and thus do not require recycling.