Stora Enso joins H&M and Ikea in TreeToTextile project

Finnish pulp and paper manufacturer Stora Enso has joined The H&m Group, Inter Ikea Group and SunPine founder Lars Stigsson in their joint venture TreeToTextile AB. The project aims to develop new textile fibres from renewable forest raw materials, at attractive costs. All four partners have an equally big stake in the company.

Stora Enso has joined the project to help take it to an industrialization phase, following a successful test in a pilot line in Sweden. “It is now ready to be scaled up with the construction of a demonstration plant at one of Store Enso’s Nordic facilities”, the partners announced in a statement. Once everything is up and running, both Ikea and H&M plan to use the fiber in their products.

“With Stora Enso as a partner we now add industrial knowledge and deep competence within the cellulose field. This, together with existing consumer and textile knowledge as well as an entrepreneurial spirit, brings us one step closer to our goal of introducing a new sustainable low-cost fibre for the many people,” said Lena Julle, Category Area Manager Textiles at IKEA of Sweden. Erik Karlsson, Investment Manager for Sustainable Fashion at H&M group’s investment arm CO:LAB, added: “TreeToTextile is a long-term investment as we strongly believe it will contribute to offering our customers even more sustainably produced products at affordable prices”.