Altri, a leading European company in the production of eucalyptus pulp and sustainable forest management, has chosen Afry, a leader in engineering, design, and advisory services, to build its greenfield textile fibre factory in Spain. Afry will also support Altri to conceive, create and implement foundations for Industry 4.0 technologies in the new plant.

The demand for sustainable textile fibres is growing globally. To support this growth, the Portuguese pulp producer Altri has become the industrial partner to public-private consortium Impulsa (Society for the Development of Strategic Projects of Galicia) as the lead investor and technologist to study the wood-based textile fibres biofactory exclusively, the companies said in a joint media release.

The biofactory will use Galician wood as the primary raw material together with recycled remains from the textile industry to produce dissolving pulp and Lyocell fibre. The plant will be designed based on the best available techniques (BAT), best environmental practices, as well as cutting-edge proven technologies and the production will be fossil-fuel-free. The project is expected to benefit from the ‘Next Generation EU’ programme.

Altri is responsible for designing and developing the biofactory project to transform wood into a textile fibre, evaluating site locations and exploring alliances with the entire value chain. Altri has assigned Afry to support the project development and planned project implementation.

The industrial biorefinery to be built from scratch will be able to provide the textile cluster of the Iberian Peninsula with sustainable cellulosic fibres, contributing to the strengthening of the circular economy and decarbonisation of an important economic sector such as the textile sector.