New firm to focus on scaling Ioncell fibre
23/05/2022
The institution’s vice-president of innovation, Janne Laine, said that this was the first time it had ever become a founding partner in a business created in its orbit, despite the creation of close to 100 enterprises there every year. Its motivation in this instance is to support sustainability “on a global scale”, Mr Laine explained.
Other founding partners include main shareholder and chief executive, Antti Rönkkö, plus retired university professor Herbert Sixta. Mr Rönkkö, who currently leads Finnish fashion brands Nanso and Vogue as chief executive of Nanso Group, stated that the technology required to scale Ioncell production should be ready in around five to 10 years’ time.
Meanwhile, the newly established company continues to hone its processes at a university-owned facility in Espoo’s Otaniemi district, although the aim is to construct its own plant within the next two years, Aalto University said.
Produced from either wood or cellulosic textile waste, manufacturing Ioncell requires use of non-harmful recyclable ionic liquids to form fibres which, according to the institution, possess technical properties that have tested “better” than both cotton and other man-made cellulosic fibres currently available.
Professor Sixta recently won this year’s Marcus Wallenberg Prize alongside University of Helsinki professor Ilkka Kilpeläinen in recognition of their work in the forestry field, specifically their development of novel ionic liquids for processing wood biomass into textile fibres.
“The world needs completely new solutions to meet the sustainability challenges of the textile industry," commented Mr Rönkkö. "The competitive advantages of Ioncell fibre are its ecological production process, high quality and recyclability. I believe the company has a promising future in the international market."
Ioncell Oy’s vision for the decade ahead includes carving out a 5-10% share of the international textile market.
Image: Mikko Raskinen/Aalto University.
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