Spinnova collaborates with Suzano to open a first commercial-scale production facility

The world’s largest wood pulp producer Suzano will collaborate with material innovation company Spinnova to make an investment of around 22 million euros to build the first commercial-scale SPINNOVA®production facility in Finland. Including all needed infrastructure such as real estate, the total investment is around 50 million euros. Spinnova’s sustainable fiber is created out of wood and waste without the use of harmful chemicals. It will be available for global textile brands in 2022.

The new industrial-scale production unit will be constructed in the home country of Spinnova’s R&D hub and pilot facility i.e. Finland. A new joint venture company owned by Spinnova along with Suzano will manage and operate the production of the new facility.

The joint venture investment is evaluated to be around 22 million euros. But, the total investment, confining all required infrastructure such as real estate, is around 50 million euros. The Jyväskylä real estate development company Jykia will build the real estate and rent it for a joint venture.

Janne Poranen Spinnova’s CEO and co-founder said that to minimize emissions and ecological footprint, and building a circular material foundation for their products, every leading textile brand is looking for new ways. Since they will soon be able to provide their brands with new, disruptively sustainable fiber and fabrics, hence they feel humble and proud.

In the production of eucalyptus pulp, Suzano is a world leader which has expanded its operations of developing sustainable and innovative solutions derived from trees to the challenges faced by society. In the joint venture, the technology will be provided by Spinnova while the supply of sustainably produced micro-fibrillated cellulose obtained from eucalyptus plants will be ensured by Suzano in Brazil. Under the SPINNOVA®trademark, the fiber produced will be sold.

Chief Technology and Innovation Officer of Suzano Fernando Bertolucci said that for its production processes Suzano only uses planted trees. In comparison to the options currently available in the textile industry, for producing fibers when this renewable raw material is being combined with Spinnova’s technology results in a more sustainable option, which is aligned with the demands of contemporary society.

The most sustainable textile fiber in the market is considered as SPINNOVA® fiber as its process uses no harmful chemicals and 99% less water than the cotton value chain. In this way, the fiber creates minimal CO2 emissions, contains no microplastics, and is quickly biodegradable. The SPINNOVA® fiber is disruptively circular because these fibers can be recycled into a new fiber again and again. Other than producing fiber from wood, textile waste or agricultural waste such as wheat or barley straw can also be used to produce fiber using the Spinnova technology.