01/20/2023

Cellulose Fibre 2023 Innovation of the Year: From Hygiene Products, Sustainability Technologies, Cellulose from Textile Waste, and Banana Production Waste (1/20/23)

For the third time, nova-Institute awards the “Cellulose Fibre Innovation of the Year” award in the frame of the “Cellulose Fibres Conference 2023” (8-9 March 2023). The nominated six products, include cellulose fibers from textile waste, banana production waste and bacterial pulp, a novel technology for producing lyocell yarns, and a hygiene product. The innovation award “Cellulose Fibre Innovation of the Year 2023” is sponsored by GIG Karasek (AT). Cellulose fibres show a steadily expanding range of applications, and markets are driven by technological developments and political framework conditions, increasing sustainability requirements for textiles. All nominees will introduce innovative pathways towards more sustainable technologies and products. Here are the six nominees Vybrana – The new generation banana fibre – GenCrest Bioproducts (India) Vybrana is a Gencrest’s Sustainable Cellulosic Fibre upcycled from agrowaste. Raw fibres are extracted from the Banana Pseudo stem at the end of the plant lifecycle. The biomass waste is then treated by the Gencrest patented Fiberzyme technology. Here, cocktail enzyme formulations remove the high lignin content and other impurities and help fibre fibrillation. The company's proprietary cottonization process provides fine, spinnable cellulose staple fibres suitable for blending with other staple fibres and can be spun on any conventional spinning systems giving yarns sustainable apparel. HeiQ AeoniQ™ – technology for more sustainability of textiles – HeiQ (Austria) HeiQ AeoniQ™ is the disruptive technology and key initiative from HeiQ with the potential to change the sustainability of textiles. It is the first climate-positive continuous cellulose filament yarn and the first to reproduce the properties of polyester and nylon yarns in a cellulosic, biodegradable, and endlessly recyclable fibre. HeiQ AeoniQ™ can be manufactured from different cellulosic raw materials such as pre- and post-consumer textile waste, biotech cellulose, and non-valorized agricultural waste (ground coffee waste or banana peels). TENCEL™ LUXE – lyocell filament yarn – Lenzing (Austria)TENCEL™ LUXE is LENZING’s new versatile lyocell yarn that offers an urgently needed sustainable filament solution for the textile and fashion industry. A possible botanical alternative for silk, long-staple cotton, and petrol-based synthetic filaments, is derived from wood grown in renewable, sustainably managed forests, and produced in an environmentally sound, closed-loop process. TENCEL™ LUXE is suitable for a wide range of applications from finer high fashion propositions to denim constructions, seamless and activewear innovations, and even agricultural and technical solutions. Nullarbor™ – Nanollose & Birla Cellulose (Australia/India) In 2020, Nanollose & Birla Cellulose started a journey to develop and commercialize tree-free lyocell from bacterial cellulose, called Nullarbor™. Nullarbor is significantly stronger than lyocell made from wood-based pulp; even adding small amounts of bacterial cellulose to wood pulp increases the fibre toughness. Several high-quality fabrics and garments were produced with this fibre. The collaboration between Nanollose & Birla Cellulose now focuses on increasing the production scale and amount of bacterial pulp in the fibre. Circulose® – makes fashion circular – Renewcell (Sweden) Circulose®, made by Renewcell, is a branded dissolving pulp made from 100 % textile waste, like worn- out clothes and production scraps. It provides a 100 % recycled, biodegradable, and virgin-equivalent quality. It is used by fibre producers to make staple fibre or filaments like viscose, lyocell, modal, acetate or other types of man-made cellulosic fibres. In 2022, Renewcell, opened the world’s first textile-to-textile chemical recycling plant in Sundsvall, Sweden – Renewcell 1. Sparkle sustainable sanitary pads – Sparkle Innovations (United States) Globally, around 300 billion period products are discarded every year, resulting in millions of tons of non-biodegradable waste. Since most conventional sanitary pads contain up to 90 % plastics, they do not biodegrade for around 600 years. Sparkle has designed sustainable, plastic-free, biodegradable and compostable Sparkle sanitary pads. From product to packaging, they are made up of around 90% cellulose-based materials .