After talking earlier this year of plans (as reported by our sister publication, The Outdoor Industry Compass) to invest some €220 million in a new regenerated textile fiber factory – though no site had reportedly been found at the time – fashion and textile technology company Infinited Fiber Company now announced that it would build the factory on the site of renewable resources company Stora Enso’s closed Veitsiluoto paper mill in Kemi, a Finnish city on the northern shore of the Baltic Sea. Infinited Fiber selected the Veitsiluoto industrial site after reviewing dozens of potential locations across Finland. Decisive factors, in the end, included the site’s excellent existing infrastructure, availability of fresh water, renewable power and energy, efficient port services and skilled local workforce. The investment is now estimated at €400 million, and the finished factory is expected to employ around 220 people directly and another 50 through on-site support functions. The additional indirect employment effects are estimated at about 800 jobs. Annual fiber production capacity is expected to be 30,000 metric tons, equivalent to the fiber requirements for approximately 100 million T-shirts.
Infinited Fiber Company’s technology enables cotton-rich textile waste to be converted into a versatile, high-quality regenerated textile fiber called Infinna™ that looks and feels like cotton. Major international fashion and apparel companies – including Inditex, PVH Europe, Patagonia, Pangaia, H&M and Bestseller – have already committed to purchasing Infinna under multi-year agreements as they seek materials that will help the industry transition to a circular economy. Infinited Fiber expects to export most of the output from its planned factory. This makes Kemi an ideal location, as the city’s port is an efficient link to the rest of the world.
The factory is expected to operate at full capacity in 2025.
