Finnish recycled fiber company Infinited Fiber plans to build its first commercial-scale Infinna fiber factory at Stora Enso’s Veitsiluoto industrial site in Kemi, Finland’s northernmost region of Lapland. The size of the planned investment is around €400 million ($420 mm).
The factory is expected to create around 270 jobs and be fully operational in 2025.
The annual fiber production capacity of the planned factory is expected to be 30,000 metric tons, equivalent to the fiber needed to produce 100 million t-shirts.The company’s technology enables cotton-rich textile waste to be repurposed into Infinna, a textile fiber that looks and feels like cotton.
Zara’s parent company Inditex, PVH Europe, producer of the Tommy Hilfiger label, Patagonia, Pangaia, H&M Group, and Bestseller have committed to purchasing Infinna through multi-year agreements in support of circularity.
“Circularity is at the heart of our business. We aim to make use of existing resources in all that we do, which makes the historic Veitsiluoto industrial site a great fit for us. At the same time, we will be creating new export products and jobs,” said Infinited Fiber Company CEO and co-founder Petri Alava. “Finland has solid bio-economy know-how and is very supportive of circular economy innovations. We see these as major strengths that enable Finland to become a leader in the creation of the new, circular economy-based textile industry value chain.”
