Yesterday, Sweden's Minister Business, Industry and Innovation Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson visited the textile recycling company Renewcell's facility in Ortviken, Sundsvall. Renewcell sees a strong interest from the fashion industry for its unique and 100 percent recycled product Circulose®, and recently decided to double its production capacity in Ortviken from 60,000 to 120,000 tonnes per year, close to the annual total consumption of textile in Sweden.
Renewcell was founded by researchers at KTH and is based on a patented process for recycling cellulose-based textile waste such as cotton clothing into a high-quality new material called Circulose®, designed to meet the sustainability challenge in the fashion industry.
Sustainability and circularity are core to the operations within Renewcell, and when the decision on the location of establishment for the new factory was to be made, the choice naturally fell on SCA's industrial site in Ortviken in Sundsvall, Sweden. Renewcell's process is based on traditional paper and pulp technology and in Ortviken mcuh that is needed, such as infrastructure, logistics solutions and not least access to fossil-free energy is already in place. There are also highly skilled operators and engineers here, and today about a hundred people in the immediate area have been hired.
“It is wonderful to be able to welcome the Minister of Trade and Industry to our production facility in Ortviken, and show the great progress we have made so far. We see a clear demand for our product, and we are now scaling up faster than planned. ” says Patrik Lundström, CEO of Renewcell.
In July 2021, Renewcell was granted an environmental permit for the new textile recycling plant in Ortviken, and the company expects continued good cooperation with the authorities to be able to increase production capacity.
“The green and digital transition in Swedish industry is going fast. At the same time as jobs disappear, new ones emerge. Renewcell and the establishment of SCA's industrial area in Sundsvall is an excellent example. New jobs are being created here at the same time as it strengthens Sweden and drives the green and digital transition, ” says Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson, Sweden's Minister Business, Industry and Innovation.
“It is great to see that SCA's industrial site in Ortviken is buzzing with activity both through Renewcell's establishment and SCA's new establishment of pulp production. SCA's large investments in improved infrastructure solutions in Sundsvall not only strengthen our own competitiveness but also Renewcells, something we are very proud of. ” says Ulf Larsson, President and CEO, SCA.
