Renewcell and Valmet have signed a contract for Valmet to deliver the main equipment for Renewcell’s planned 60,000 metric tonne capacity textile recycling plant at Ortviken industrial site in Sundsvall, Sweden. Renewcell’s new Ortviken plant is scheduled to begin operations in the first half of 2022. The value of the order is around €25 million.

The order is included in Valmet’s orders received in the first quarter 2021. This is a major milestone in the establishment of the first of its kind commercial scale textile recycling plant in the world. Through its patented process, Renewcell is able to upcycle cellulosic textile waste, such as cotton and viscose clothes, transforming it into a dissolving pulp product called Circulose, produced from 100 per cent recycled textiles. In 2018, Renewcell opened a demonstration plant in Kristinehamn, Sweden, which can produce up to 4,500 tonnes of Circulose per year. The new Ortviken plant will have a capacity of 60,000 tonnes per year with a possibility to increase the capacity in the future, according to Valmet.

Valmet will supply process equipment for stock preparation, bleaching and drying commonly used in large scale state-of-the-art dissolving pulp plants tailored for this project. Valmet’s delivery includes machine equipment installation, commissioning and technical support. Significant part of the technology is designed and produced in Sundsvall, Sweden and in Tampere and Jyväskylä, Finland. The pulp drying and baling part is second-hand equipment originally delivered by Valmet to another customer and now being dismantled in France and shipped to Sweden with needed technical support and installation from Valmet at Renewcell site, Valmet said in a media statement.

“We have gone through a rigorous selection process and are confident that Valmet is the best possible long-term partner to Renewcell on our mission to change the global fashion industry. With a trusted supplier like Valmet providing the core equipment, we reduce project risk and gain a committed partner with industry-leading expertise. We look forward to working closely with Valmet to put together a top-of-the-line textile recycling plant concept that is ready to be rolled out not just at Ortviken but worldwide,” Patrik Lundström, CEO of Renewcell said in a Valmet press release.

“Sustainable textile recycling is well aligned with Valmet’s mission of converting renewable resources into sustainable results. I’m very proud that Renewcell selected Valmet as the key supplier for this ground-breaking plant. Our teams have been working well together in developing these solutions and I’m delighted to see this outcome. This will be an important project and a key reference within this new business area, and we look forward to a continued co-operation with Renewcell,” Bertel Karlstedt, president, pulp and energy business line, Valmet said in a press release.

“This project is an excellent example of how we can utilise Valmet’s wide expertise in bio, pulp and paper technology in textile recycling. In a project like this, Valmet is not only a technology provider, but this is a joint journey. During the past year, we have worked together to fine-tune the technology for textile recycling. We have utilised Valmet’s pilot machines at our Swedish and Finnish R&D centres to do test runs in turning recycled textile raw material into dissolving pulp sheets,” Rickard Andersson, vice president of fibre processing business unit at Valmet said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)

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