VÄXJÖ, Sweden — November 18, 2020 — Södra has successfully added 20 percent used textiles to its OnceMore® dissolving pulp. The achievement by the long-established Swedish wood and fiber-processing group is a significant step towards more sustainable solutions for the fashion industry.
The ground-breaking OnceMore technology was launched in 2019 with 3-percent recycled textile content but ever since, Södra has been working hard to increase the recycled content in the new material. Johannes Bogren, vice president of Södra Cell Bioproducts, said: “OnceMore has the potential to shake up the fashion industry and will enable large volumes of used cotton and cotton-polyester blends to be turned into new clothing and textiles. We are delighted with the progress achieved so far.”
OnceMore is produced at Södra’s technically-renowned Mörrum mill. “We have invested in the pulp mill where we have produced standard dissolving pulp for some time and where we can now also manufacture OnceMore,” Bogren added. “Södra is supplying OnceMore pulp on a continuous basis to a number of customers that manufacture textile fibres around the world. The product has had a highly positive reception and the market is showing strong demand. We are following our roadmap, to increase capacity to 25,000 tonnes of textile waste that can be added to pulp production by 2024, which will require a number of additional investments in the mill.”
Södra has held numerous constructive meetings with brands interested in making products based on OnceMore which they see as an important potential step towards a more circular fashion industry.
“One key requirement was to increase the percentage of the added recycled textiles, and by reaching a share of 20 percent we have now achieved an important goal. But we are not stopping now — our target is 50 percent,” Bogren said.
Another recurring request from customers has been certification according to the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS).
“We received our RCS certificate in June, which is proof that we can offer products containing recycled textiles. Now I hope that the rest of the textile supply chain will follow suit so that RCS-certified garments and other textile materials based on our OnceMore technology will soon be available in stores,” Bogren concluded.
Posted November 18, 2020
Source: Södra
