Austria-based Andritz has received an order for a complete needlepunch line from Belgium-based Sioen Technical Felts, part of Sioen Industries. According to Andritz, the line will enable Sioen to product heavyweight fabrics of more than 3,500 grams per square meter in one single step. The line is compatible with multiple fiber types — including recycled polyester, OxPan and bicomponent — with varying fineness. The line also includes ProWin™, Andritz’s weight profiling technology, that ensures weight evenness is maximized. The new line is expected to start production during the first quarter of 2025.
In other company news, Andritz has supplied a third line to China-based Meisheng Group. The needlepunch line will be used to expand the company’s production of nonwoven synthetic leather to address the growing need for man-made suede by the automotive industry.
First Quality Baby Products LLC, has announced a $418 million investment to expand its footprint in Macon, Ga. The company, and its affiliates, make baby diapers, youth and training pants, adult incontinence, feminine hygiene and wipes products, among other products. The expansion will create 600 new jobs and the company will be hiring executive, administrative, supervisory and production personnel.
“In March, First Quality announced that we will be increasing our baby diaper and training
pant manufacturing capacity by 50 percent, and we are excited to announce our expansion will take place in Macon, Georgia,” said Allen Bodford, president of First Quality’s Absorbent Hygiene Division.
Textile World recently spoke with Dr. Andreas Raps, the newly appointed CEO of Freudenberg Performance Materials.
TW Special Report
The Germany-based Freudenberg Group originally began as a tannery in 1849. Over the past 175 years, the company has grown and evolved into a global technology company providing products, services and solutions to its customers. The company is celebrating this milestone birthday under the tagline “Curious Since 1849.”
Freudenberg comprises some 10 business groups— making products across 40 market segments for thousands of different applications — and among them is the Freudenberg Performance Materials group. The focus of Freudenberg Performance Materials is innovative technical textiles that are used in a myriad of markets including apparel, auto-motive, building materials, energy, filter media, healthcare, footwear and leather goods. The business group— with its 32 manufacturing sites in 14 countries employing 5,100 people —generated sales of more than 1.4 billion euros ($1.51 billion) in 2023.
Dr. Andreas Raps became the CEO of Freudenberg Performance Materials in January 2024. While he is new to this role, he is in his twentieth year with the company and joined the executive council back in 2020. Textile World recently had the chance to speak with Dr. Raps to learn more about the company as well as his thoughts about the current business environment and keys for success, among other topics. Dr. Raps said that while this is a new position for him, he is very familiar with the company after spending 20 years as an employee — although his 20 out of 175, he noted with a smile, is not so much.
TW: What makes Freudenberg unique in the textile/performance materials sector?
Dr. Raps: We are celebrating a special birthday this year — 175 years of Freudenberg, which is really a wow! I’m really happy to talk about why Freudenberg Performance Materials is unique. Our innovation strengths, research and development capabilities, our broad technology platform —one of the broadest in the industry — and our global footprint make the company unique. We are a full solutions provider. Then last, but not least, our outstanding teams. Our people really make the difference and I’m very proud to be the CEO of Freudenberg Performance Materials. I’m traveling a lot right now and I meet many new faces every single day. I receive very warm welcomes and we have very open and trusting discussions that underline our culture is a very special one.
Freudenberg Comfortemp® HO 80xR circular thermal insulation product is made using 70-percent recycled polyamide that comes from discarded fishing nets, carpet flooring and industrial plastic.
TW: What are the company’s greatest strengths and how do you differentiate from competitors?
Dr. Raps: When we talk about differentiation from our competitors, I would say we start with customer centricity. Freudenberg would not have survived 175 years without listening to and anticipating the customer’s voice. My philosophy is to start with the pain points of customers and develop valuable solutions that meet their needs. I really think when we talk about innovation capabilities, we have a very good value proposition.
Also, our global footprint allows us to follow a local-for-local strategy. Our approach is always to serve local markets with local footprint. In addition, the Performance Materials group is part of the family-owned, long-term-oriented and financially solid Freudenberg Group. This presents us with a lot of opportunities. We are in a safe harbor. We are not looking into quarterly developments, but more long-term topics.
TW: Recently the Freudenberg Group shared that it had achieved record profits in 2023. What do you believe were the keys to this success? How did the textile segments con-tribute to the company’s overall success?
Dr. Raps: As a member of the executive council of Freudenberg Group, I can tell you that we are a diverse technology-driven company that transforms in-depth expertise into added value solutions for our customers, who appreciate those partnerships. I repeat myself, but those partnerships are for the long run. We are not looking into single points of supply. We are in partnerships for decades and I think this makes a difference.
I would say Freudenberg Performance Materials had a reasonable year overall. We saw strong performance in some segments such as gas diffusion layers for fuel cells, condensation control and healthcare.
In 2024, we have faced severe headwinds due to geopolitical circumstances and rising interest rates that lead to hesitation, for instance. As we all know, the global building and construction industry was particularly affected. But as a diverse company, we remain a strong, reliable partner. We need to be cautious, but we can also use this time to work on our homework and prepare the company for the future.
Evolon® durable packing solutions are made using up to 85-percent recycled PET.
TW: As Freudenberg grows its manufacturing capability for medical products, does this provide an opportunity also for the textile segment?
Dr. Raps: Freudenberg Medical is one of 10 business groups within the Freudenberg Group, just like Freudenberg Performance Materials. Our colleagues have strong expertise in extrusion and shaping thermoplastic and silicone components.
In our case, it’s about performance materials — basic, high-performance nonwovens and polyurethane foams. We began some 20 years ago in basic wound care and today are active in advanced wound care where we offer highly technical and sophisticated solutions. We have some exclusive partnerships with customers where we have very interesting development projects. For instance, when you talk about chronic wounds, a certain environment is needed to manage the wound, such as humidity. Products from Freudenberg Performance Materials support applications like that. It’s a very exciting area and we have a very highly dedicated and passionate team happy to add value in this arena.
TW: How does the company determine its global manufacturing footprint and where to make investments?
Dr. Raps: I already mentioned that one of our basic philosophies is local-for-local, which has been our approach for decades. For instance, we entered our first partnership in Japan in the 1960s. We are active on most of the major continents with a significant footprint. Today, we operate 32 production sites around the world. The majority still are based in Europe, but North America and Asia are exciting markets as well. We consider North America an exciting market with reasonable growth. We currently are building a new line in Vietnam for recyclable wadding products, and also a new line in India. We have a duplication of our technologies across the globe enabling us to offer the same technologies from different regions. This makes us a valuable partner for global businesses.
“We can bring positive change through our handprint — by using recycled materials, being energy efficient or by helping customers to reduce their own resource consumption.” — Dr. Andreas Raps
TW: As a leading company in the nonwovens sector, what developments are key to the future of the business?
Dr. Raps: We think that joint innovations with our customers will be a key success factor for the future. Also, when talking about the future, I think if we can make our customers successful, especially in the arena of sustainability, then it’s more than a justification for us to be committed in this area. We see sustainability and commercial aspects not as a contradiction, but things that go hand in hand with each other.
I also want you to know that when we talk about sustainability, in Freudenberg’s case, it’s not just a buzzword. We started the sustainability journey decades ago and have real stories to tell. In the early 1990s, we were a pioneer in recycling PET bottles that we turned into flake to reuse in our processes. Today, we have recycling lines in almost all of our major production locations and blend virgin materials with recycled inputs. As a company, we have retained, internalized and improved the idea of upcycling.
We also like to differentiate and talk about handprint and footprint when we talk about sustainability.
The ecological footprint shows the extent to which production impacts the environment by measuring the consumption of energy and raw materials as well as the resulting carbon dioxide emissions; while the ecological handprint questions how sustainable and environmentally friendly our product is.
This means we focus not only on our own consumption and emissions, but also on whether and how our products and services can help our customers to be more sustainable. We can bring positive change through our handprint — by using recycled materials, being energy efficient or by helping customers to reduce their own resource consumption.
Enka Bio Carrier, made from renewable resources, is a sustainable carrier material for green roofs on urban buildings.
Using pioneering technologies, the company manufactures products for a wide range of applications from clothing, roofing and cars to highly complex wound care. We offer innovative solutions for all these and many other areas and are constantly developing them further. In doing so, we ensure that our products are developed, produced and distributed as sustainably as possible. After all, the future of our industry can only be secured in the long term with a resource-conserving, hands-on approach.
I believe that if you want to remain competitive in the long term, you have to ask yourself the same questions. There are alternatives to the materials you have been using — you just have to use them!
TW: Are there any factors that concern you with regards to successfully maintaining and growing Freudenberg’s future?
Dr. Raps: Increasing regulation and bureaucracy are an issue. But our approach is to focus on the things we can influence. When we have threats such as this, we can also make them into an opportunity. I think the industry in general is not in very good shape right now, but we do think there are some positive silver linings on the horizon.
TW: Can you tell readers a little more about Freudenberg Performance Materials in the United States?
Dr. Raps: We have some good footprints in the United States. We have good footprints in Durham and Asheville in North Carolina, and also in Macon, Ga. We have some minor sales offices as well. Our main customer base is in the Atlanta area.
We are looking for M&A opportunities because we are committed to grow in the United States. We have a great team there and we can digest more business and we are ready for that. And you know with our technology portfolio, I think we have a good technology offering for the market. We see high loyalty from U.S. customers as well, so we have a good match with our let’s say technology driven approach and our technical expertise. We feel highly appreciated by the U.S. customers.
ISOLA DOVARESE, Italy — July 18, 2024 — Geogreen and RadiciGroup are speeding up their photovoltaic development with the inauguration of a new solar plant in the Municipality of Isola Dovarese in the Province of Cremona. Participating at the official ribbon cutting were the Geogreen shareholders including President Angelo Radici, the mayor of the Municipality of Isola Dovarese and other local officials.
The photovoltaic plant is located in an area previously occupied by a RadiciGroup production site inactive since 2005. After demolition and requalification work, the land was sold to Geogreen, the sole renewable energy supplier for RadiciGroup.
The solar plant, which has been built taking into account environmental and landscape requirements without using any additional land, extends over a surface area of 40 thousand square meters and consists of over 5,000 photovoltaic panels with installed power of about 4 MW and estimated annual production of about 5.5 million kWh, corresponding to the annual consumption of about 2,000 families. One hundred percent of the energy produced will be used by RadiciGroup, thus preventing the potential emission to the atmosphere of over 2,500 metric tons of CO2 per year that would be generated by the procurement of a comparable amount of energy from non-renewable sources.
Geogreen, which until yesterday was focused on producing renewable hydroelectric energy at its 6 power stations, has now implemented its diversification plan with the production of solar energy at its new plant in Isola Dovarese. Therefore, Geogreen has confirmed its growth strategy in renewable energies backed by a 10-million euro three-year investment plan, already approved by its Board of Directors.
Angelo Radici, president of Geogreen, stated: “The inauguration of this photovoltaic plant is an important step in our commitment to sustainability and energy transition. Investing in renewable energies is essential to reduce environmental impact and ensure a more sustainable future for our companies, our region and local communities, which we are proud to be part of.”
The photovoltaic panels in our new plant use solar tracking technology and are bifacial, so as to increase productivity by 20 percent compared to traditional solar systems.
“Our investment in the construction of the Isola Dovarese plant was EUR 4 million,” Massimo De Petro, CEO of Geogreen, said. “As part of the project, Geogreen has included certain work for the benefit of the Municipality di Isola Dovarese: the donation of a portion of the former industrial site to the municipality as a storage area for various materials, the installation of a wall charging unit for electric vehicles and the installation of a 16-kilowatt photovoltaic system on the roof of the municipal warehouse to cover a portion of the municipal government’s energy consumption. What’s more, a 25,000-square metre area adjacent to the solar plant will be retained as a green space, a ‘green lung’ for the local community.”
The energy produced by the Geogreen Isola Doverese system will be used by a RadiciGroup company based in the Province of Bergamo, which will sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Geogreen to guarantee that it will have renewable energy to run its plants and thus contribute to the Group decarbonization plan.
“In keeping with Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and Goal 13 (Climate Action) of the United Nations Agenda 2030,” concluded Angelo Radici, in his role as president of RadiciGroup, “the reduction of emissions and adoption of renewable energy are the pillars of the strategy implemented by the Group to tackle climate change. Already today, RadiciGroup uses 59 percent renewable energy and, through its plan “From Earth to Earth”, it has set a special target of a 20 percent increase and diversification in renewable sources compared to its 2021 scenario.”
Tokyo-based Teijin Frontier Co. Ltd. recently introduced Octa®sf, a polyester spun yarn featuring an ultrafine staple fiber that has a hollow, eight-fin modified cross-section.This modified fiber creates a full and fluffy yarn with a soft, gentle feel, according to the company. The yarn also is lightweight and absorbs moisture when used in sportswear applications.
The fibers also may be blended with other natural and synthetic fibers.
In conjunction,Teijin Frontier is developing a variety of base-layer, midlayer and outwear fabrics featuring Octa sf yarn, which will be available for sportswear applications for the fall/winter 2025 season.The company is targeting sales of 100,000 meters in fiscal 2025 growing to 500,000 meters by fiscal 2028.
Ambercycle, Los Angeles, has partnered with South Korea-based Hyosung TNC to support the integration of Ambercycle’s cycora® into brand supply chains. The textile-to-textile circular polyester is a regenerated polyester chip that meets the spinnability standards of virgin products according to testing conducted by the European Center for Innovative Textiles.
“Our collaboration with Ambercycle is another important step we are taking to help our customers meet their sustainability goals and scale solutions that both present and future generations can enjoy,”said Chi Hyung Kim, CEO, Hyosung TNC.“We’re impressed with cycora for its quality, but also for its potential to divert tons of textile waste from landfills and incinerators and reduce the extraction of raw materials used in the production of virgin polyester.”
In other company news, Ambercycle has struck a three-year polyester offtake agreement with Sri Lanka-based MAS Holdings. Under the partnership, MAS can reserve capacity for cycora for its customers, which will help Ambercycle expedite commercial-scale production as fast as possible.
Brazil-based pulp producer Suzano S/A has signed a long-term partnership with B&C Group —the main shareholder of Austria-based Lenzing Group — to take over a 15-percent stake in Lenzing from B&C Group.
“Lenzing and Suzano are two companies that have come to know and appreciate each other in recent years as relevant players on the international pulp market,”said Stephan Sielaff, CEO, Lenzing Group.“Based on the core competencies in the area of pulp production and operational excellence, Suzano can make a valuable contribution to the successful implementation of our strategy.
For us, the constellation of the two strong core shareholders B&C Group and Suzano S/A is definitely a win.”
To accelerate its growth strategy in the sustainable polymers market, Stein Fibers LLC, Albany, N.Y., has acquired recycled materials distributor Banyan Plastics LLC, West Palm Beach, Fla.
“We are excited to onboard the team from Banyan Plastics LLC,”said Jaren Edwards, president of Stein Fibers.“Together, we are better equipped to help our customers meet their published sustainability goals within the recycled plastics marketplace. Even more important is the value and efficiency we provide to recycling facilities around the world. Our combined expertise and scale will provide solutions that have never been offered on a consistent basis to both our suppliers and customers.”
Shortly after Stockholm-based Renewcell filed for bankruptcy and announced it was looking for a new owner to protect its patented process for CIRCULOSE® pulp, it was reported that Sweden-based investment firm Altor had acquired assets of the company. Moving forward, the company will operate under the name Circulose. Renewcell technology uses a closed-loop, chemical recycling process to create recycled cotton dissolving pulp from 100-percent textile waste. The pulp is used by man-made cellulosic fiber (MMCF) producers. The investment by Altor ensures the company has the resources and network needed to scale Circulose pulp production.
“We extend our deepest gratitude to our customers, partners, and stakeholders for their unwavering support and collaboration during this journey,”said Magnus Lundmark, CEO at Circulose. “Together, we will continue to drive positive change, leveraging Altor’s expertise and resources to enhance our capabilities and secure a confident future for Circulose and the broader textile community.”
“We don’t shy away from a challenge and this one is worth taking, both for the uniqueness of the patented technology and the urgency of scaling circular solutions for the entire textile and fashion industry, particularly to replace virgin cotton and MMCF,” said Clara Zverina, Altor principal.
An Oregon flax field (Image courtesy of John Morgan, StereoEye Productions)
A USDA grant is helping the PA Flax Project revitalize the flax-to-fiber industry in Pennsylvania.
By Kathleen Webber
Textile artist Heidi Barr’s search for a local supplier of linen in Pennsylvania for her home goods company left her empty-handed and curious. Through her research, she found that linen was no longer produced in North America. The flax seed had first come to the United States in the 1600s with the Dutch and German settlers of Germantown, an area of Philadelphia just minutes from where she lived. Barr wondered what it would take to start the industry up again in the United States. She found others interested in growing flax for fiber and came across the Cleveland-based Rustbelt Fibershed linen project and Fibrevolution Inc. in Fruitland, Ore. But it was a chance meeting with a Pennsylvania farmer, Emma De Long, who wanted Barr to make her a linen wedding dress, that led De Long to hand plant a test plot of flax in March 2020 on her vegetable and flower farm — Kneehigh Farm — in Pottstown, Pa. The two women formed the PA Flax Project (PAFP) that year to build a field-to-fiber supply chain in South-eastern Pennsylvania hiring the women at Fibrevolution as consultants to share knowledge about flax, its agronomy, and the processing to make it into linen.
Not long after, in September 2022, the North American Linen Association (NALA) was established, and Barr became the founding vice president on the board. A 501c6 trade association, NALA focuses on advancing the flax-to-linen industry in North America. Shannon Welsh, executive director of NALA and co-founder of Fibrevolution, helped assemble a network of national and international experts to provide members with training, education, technical advice, and networking to rebuild the industry in North America.
Recently, PAFP was awarded a$1.7 million U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Services Organic Marketing Development Grant (OMDG) to grow flax for linen and other co-products on 12,000 acres in Pennsylvania. PAFP has partnered with the Rodale Institute, Kutztown, Pa., on the grant to reach its large network of organic and transitioning to organic farmers. A cohort of farmers is already interested in a work cooperative of producers both at the farm and the mill level. “It is a European model,” Barr said. “We chose the cooperative model not only because we believe in a democratically run workplace, but because it spreads out the risk as well as the reward across all of the stakeholders. And we’re hoping that will make us be able to succeed as a business.”
A flax harvest at Kneehigh Farm in Pottstown, Pa. (Image courtesy of Zoe Schaeffer)
The goal of the OMDG grant is to recruit farmers, support them with education, and move the organic fiber flax from farm to market by developing a mill and a market for Pennsylvania organic fiber flax. PAFP is learning from growers in Europe on how to grow, harvest and process flax. Private funding allowed Barr to purchase three pieces of Depoortere harvesting equipment from Belgium that will arrive this summer in time for its second farmer educational event. “The people we’re purchasing from are also sending somebody to teach us how to use the machinery,” Barr noted. “They’re very supportive of this project and I think a huge key to the North American success in linen is going to be collaboration with people in Europe. They hold all the recent history.”
Welsh traveled through Europe all over the flax-growing regions and toured mills and met other people in the industry for NALA. “Over time, everyone was starting to come to us for consulting for all kinds of things, partnerships,” Welsh said. “Heidi was one of the people that we consulted with. And we saw lots of other regions throughout North America trying to bring this crop back. It seems like to really get a supply chain for linen again, we needed to come together as a larger organization and work together as we build rebuild infrastructure and get crops growing.” NALA’s board is nine members strong and growing. Among the significant growers in North America are Rustbelt Fibershed; Fibrevolution; Chico Flax, Chico, Calif.; GreenMountain Linen, South Royalton, Vt.; TapRoot Fibrelab, Greenwich, Nova Scotia; Montreal-based Canflax; and Biolin Research Inc., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Scutched flax fiber is combed and then spun into yarns. (Image courtesy of Fibrevolution)
After securing the grant, PAFP went from no resources to being fully funded for three years, Barr said. It has hired a new director of Agriculture, a director of Development, a director of Education and a director of Value Chain Coordination. PAFP is working with partners like Pennsylvania Fibershed, a nonprofit organization working to connect the fiber and textile communities in Pennsylvania through industry development. Leslie Davidson, co-founder of Pennsylvania Fibershed said it is assisting PAFP on systems development, data collection and supply chain outreach to get farmers interested in growing the crop and getting people committed to using the fiber once it is grown and processed. Barr said flax has the potential to provide new revenue streams for hundreds of farmers in Pennsylvania alone.
State Support For Flax Growing
Barr worked with Michael Roth, director of Conservation and Innovation at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, to advocate for adding flax fiber to the specialty crop list in the state. “Pennsylvania is the first state to have its own Farm Bill and therefore the only one with a state-level specialty crop program,” Roth noted. Flax is now classified as a specialty crop, which unlocks funding for people who are producing the crop. “Specialty crops are crops that are of particular interest and eligible for support because they have some benefit beyond just being a crop,” Roth said.
Barr also noted that: “Flax was awarded the specialty crop status just ahead of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Specialty Crop Block grants coming open to anyone growing fiber flax.”
Shannon Powers of the PA Department of Agriculture said the Pennsylvania Specialty Crop Block Grant was created as part of the PA Farm Bill and the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant program prioritizing crops tied to fast-growing sectors, or those that have the potential to increase our sustainability and create opportunities for farmers.
“Flax checks both of those boxes, Powers said. “Linen is among the natural fibers in demand by consumers who want to decrease their carbon footprint with plant-based products. At this point, flax has to be shipped out of the U.S. for final processing into linen, then be imported back to the U.S. PA Flax Project is working to return the flax-processing industry back to the U.S. to create economic opportunity for Pennsylvania farmers, and increase sustainability in the textile industry — an effort the PA Department of Agriculture supports.”
Barr said the hope is that other states will look at what Pennsylvania did and go to their Department of Agriculture and advocate for the same. “The more states that can get it on the specialty crop list, the more likely it will be to be added at the federal level,” Barr said.
John England Irish linen (Image courtesy of Fibrevolution)
Flax History
Flax is a bast fiber meaning that it comes from second layer of the plant’s stem. Hemp, jute and ramie also are bast fibers. There is evidence of its growth and use dating back to the fifth millennium BC in both Mesopotamia and Egypt, but the crop came to Europe in the Middle Ages, where it was cultivated widely. German settlers brought flax production to the Pennsylvania colony in the 17th century, settling in the southeastern area of the state near Philadelphia. “While it had deep roots in this region, the flax industry initially lost ground to cot-ton in the first Industrial Revolution because cotton had the advantages of the labor of enslaved people,” Barr said. “The cotton gin was an early industrial invention that meant it became faster and cheaper to produce cotton. And so linen sort of lost ground there and then it lost ground again after the Second World War, when synthetic textiles came onto the market. NAFTA was the final nail in the coffin.”
Benefits Of Flax
A climate-positive plant, flax is easy to grow, taking 100 days from seed to harvest. Its most valuable use is for linen production. Linen is known for its durability, breathability and strength, and demand for it has grown as consumers turn away from synthetics and embrace natural fibers. “Flax is environmentally very friendly,” Barr said. “It is a low-input crop that doesn’t require irrigation and it remediates soils, promoting biodiversity. It’s a carbon capture crop. It can be processed from field to spinnable fiber with no chemicals using all mechanical processing. So, every part of the plant has commercial uses. Plus, it yields a very versatile textile.”
Flax grows in a large variety of climates. It will tolerate a lot of different soil types, but more importantly, it’s the humidity and moisture that it needs Barr explained. In Europe, it grows in coastal regions. And in Oregon, growers benefit from a coastal climate. “Here [in PA] we have enough humidity,” Barr noted.
When the fibrous stems of the flax plant turn a yellow-brown color, it is pulled to harvest and the flax plant is left to rett in the field for a period of two to three weeks. The retted flax straw is transported to the scutching mill to be processed into spinnable fiber. Then the fiber goes to a spinning mill and then on to be woven or knit into fabric.
Three Stages Of The PAFP
Right now, PAFP is in the agricultural stage, or stage one, with interested farmers. It is followed by the mill stage, and then the mill’s stabilization stage. This year its priorities are to grow small amounts, and sup-port farmers with education about the agronomy of the crop, so that they are set up for success as they scale. PAFP also is networking and relationship-building to begin identifying buyers for what will eventually be produced at the mill. The ambitious goal is to have the mill operational at the end of year three. Its director of development is already looking for a mill building, creating the built environment strategy and fundraising so things can stay on schedule.
PAFP will likely locate the mill in southeastern Pennsylvania in the Philadelphia region — not necessarily because it’s the best part of the state, but because that’s where the bulk of its interested growers are right now. “Our goal is to have a regional scale mill and once we get the mill operational, we don’t want to expand beyond that,” Barr said. “We want to become an educational hub for others who are interested in a similarly-sized cooperative model. And we think that Pennsylvania has room for at least three and probably five, similarly sized operations.”
The idea is to locate the mill within a couple of hundred miles of the bulk of the growers. These growers will plant 3,000 to 4,000 acres of crop in a four-year rotation. The closer the mill is to those acres, the less distance the giant bales of straw need to be transported.
“We will be a raw materials mill, so we’ll be producing what’s called scutched fiber or fiber that’s ready to be spun,” Barr said. “For the textile industry, our end users would be spinners or people who are creating nonwoven cloth with short fibers as well as buyers of coproducts like shive, dust and immature seed.”
The biggest hurdle to building the industry is the amount of capital it takes to build mills as part of the infrastructure. A first-stage processing or scutching mill can cost between $5 million and $10 million to build, and ideally, a mill on the West coast, in the Midwest and in the Northeast would be needed, Welsh noted. “My goal is to really disrupt our current textile system and have commercial production taking place domestically,” Welsh said. “I feel like there is a lot of momentum right now, but I see it slowing down because every group is having to raise a significant amount of money to build the processing mills.”
However, Barr said reestablishing a whole industry requires a relatively modest investment making it attractive to investors. “In our case, the early stage funding we’ve received through the OMDG award will help us achieve funding for our mill and it’s our hope that our success will encourage investment in other regional flax fiber projects,” Barr said. “Our OMDG award is a huge step forward and a vote of confidence by the USDA in both PAFP and the fiber flax industry in North America, which is very encouraging.”
Flax can also be used in composite applications such as thermoplastic honeycomb sandwich panels created by EconCore NV in collaboration with Flaxco®, both based in Belgium.
Demand And Meeting It
Barr believes there’s a movement afoot. There is a very large growing demand for linen and for the coproducts that may be produced at the mill including short fibers that can go into biocomposites, be ring spun similar to wool, or even be cottonized and blended with cotton. Everything produced at the mill will have a market.
European supply is not meeting with current market demands and so the Pennsylvania project could possibly fill in those gaps. According to a report by the Alliance for European Flax-Linen and Hemp, three quarters of the world’s flax fiber is produced in France, the Netherlands and Belgium — all small countries in terms of land. From 2010-2020 there’s been a 133-percent increase in flax production in Europe, but in 2023 poor weather conditions meant a smaller harvest. In the same report, the aver-age price in 2024 across all qualities and all production regions of European Flax fiber produced by European scutchers — in France, Belgium and the Netherlands — reached 9.08 euros per kilogram, representing a year-on-year increase of 55 percent.
Flax linen can be found in all three main areas of design: 60 percent by volume is used in fashion; 30 percent in lifestyle and interior decoration; and 10 percent in technical applications. Welsh said through her research she learned consumers are attracted to the sustainability of the fiber, but beyond fashion and apparel, other industries also are using flax fiber for applications such as biocomposites. “They’re using flax in airplanes, cars and boats,” Welsh said. “There’s a lot of potential for this fiber in other sectors too, and I think the demand in those sectors is going up. There are more industries interested in flax fiber to replace things like carbon fiberglass. It has a lot of characteristics that perform really well.” Welsh also cited the fishing industry, which is interested in using hemp and flax in order to move away from plastic-based nets and ropes.
Innovation And Applications
The Alliance for European Flax-Linen and Hemp reports the value chain has been enhanced by new textile production processes for knit-ting and innovative technical applications including linen knits, fiber brands, and techniques like washed linen and water-repellent linen.
“A lot of the European companies, like Safilin, are starting to come out with knit textiles made of linen,” Barr said. “No one has ever really done that before. We think of knits as being cotton or poly but it can be done. And there’s a lot of experimentation being done with the end-product. So, there is the environmental end, and then there’s the business end.”
The possibilities for flax and linen are just beginning.
Editor’s Note: Kathleen Webber is a freelance writer and academic who teaches journalism at The College of New Jersey. She researches and writes about sustainability in the global fashion industry, innovation in creating circular economies and domestic manufacturing.
