As regenerated fibre demand grows, Patagonia secures supply of Infinna
Outdoor brand Patagonia has signed a multiyear agreement with Finnish textile technology group Infinited Fiber, a company that specialises in making a regenerated fibre out of textile waste.
Infinited Fiber’s supply of the regenerated fibre, which it calls Infinna, is limited, but this new agreement guarantees access to Patagonia. In parallel, the Finnish company will benefit because the deal secures it future sales of Infinna as it ramps up production.
It describes Infinna as being of “virgin quality, with the soft and natural look and feel of cotton”. It produces the regenerated fibre from what it refers to as “cotton-rich textile waste” that is broken down at the molecular level and “reborn as new fibres”.
It has explained that, because these fibres derive from cellulose, a building block of all plants, Infinna is biodegradable and contains “no microplastics to clog our seas”. Clothes made with it can be recycled again in the same process, together with other textile waste.
“The consumer would never guess it is made from recycled garments,” said Patagonia’s lead material developer, Ciara Cates, at the time of the announcement. “They will get to experience the same longevity, comfort and softness as a similar product made of virgin materials.”
She said that circularity is a marathon, not a sprint, and that by partnering with companies like Infinited Fiber Patagonia was confident of being able to build a circularity partnership that “not only recycles the products of the past, but builds a circularity plan for the products of the future”.
For her part, Infinited Fiber key account director, Kirsi Terho, said the deal meant the stamp of approval for the company’s technology from a brand whose standards and requirements for sustainability are “top of the league”.
In April, Infinited Fiber announced plans to build a new factory in Finland to meet growing demand for Infinna from clothing brands. It is currently supplying customers from its R&D and pilot facilities in Espoo and Valkeakoski. The new factory will have an annual production capacity of 30,000 tonnes, enough to produce around 100 million T-shirts without adding any other fibre.
Infinited Fiber expects sales it agrees in the course of 2021 to snap up supply of the new factory’s entire output for the next several years.
