Swedish chemical textile recycler Re:NewCell AB has announced that it has closed an oversubscribed investment round of US$5 million. New investors have joined as owners, including the Swedish fashion brand KappAhl."This injection makes it possible for us to increase our pace of production to meet the demand we have from our customers. It also lets us begin preparations for building our second, larger, recycling plant,” says Mattias Jonsson, CEO of Re:NewCell.
Re:NewCell, which already counts fashion retail major H&M as one of its minority shareholders, is the world’s first producer of high-quality textile raw materials from post-consumer textile waste at an industrial scale.
KappAhl is committed to using only sustainable materials in our products by 2025. To reach this ambitious target, access to materials recycled from worn-out textiles will be key. We look forward to contributing to Re:NewCell’s important work and collaborate with them to create great products from high quality recycled materials, commented Fredrika Klarén, Head of Sustainability at KappAhl.
Expand production and retail launch
The existing demonstration plant in Kristinehamn, Sweden, has the capacity to recycle 7 000 tonnes of cotton and viscose textiles annually, equivalent to 30 million t-shirts by weight using a patented recycling process developed by researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm.
Recently, the company achieved a significant milestone when it made its first commercial delivery of 100 percent recycled “Circulose” material to Tangshan Sanyou, a leading Chinese viscose manufacturer.
Re:NewCell is now preparing the retail launch of their breakthrough textile material in collaboration with a selection of well-known global fashion brands.
We’re very fortunate to get KappAhl as an investor. They’re a company with deep knowledge about the industry’s demands, changing consumer behaviors and a credible agenda for the transition to low-impact fashion, said Mattias Jonsson.
Cleaning up the fashion industry
The fashion industry already emits more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than the whole global transport sector. Every year around 90 million tonnes of textile waste is either sent to landfills or incinerated. Less than 1 percent of clothes are ever recycled back into clothes.
Less than 1 percent of all textiles produced is recycled into new clothes. The rest is sent to landfills or incinerated. For each tonne recycled with Re:NewCell’s method, the CO2 impact is reduced by more than 6 tonnes. Their unique technology and circular business model has the potential for global impact in an industry that is experiencing strong pressure to find sustainable solutions, said Boris Gyllhamn, Investment Manager at ALMI Invest.
Re:NewCell’s technology makes it possible to produce biodegradable high-quality fabrics without using precious virgin resources such as oil, forests, or cotton as an input. Garments made from their Circulose branded material can also be recycled all over again once they are worn out.
