Chinese group launches regenerated fibre pilot
Chemicals group Bailu has launched a small-scale pilot production line for regenerated cellulosic fibre at its facility in Henan province in eastern China.
It has called the facility BylurRecel and is describing the regerated fibres it will produce as Next Gen viscose. It will use recovered textiles as feedstock, with the majority of it post-consumer materials, including discarded hotel linen. There will be some pre-consumer industrial waste in the mix too.
Bailu said the production process at BylurRecel is simple. It skips the dissolving pulp stage, using a direct-dissolution method instead. This method offers benefits including reduced energy, water and chemical use.
The pilot facility has an initial annual capacity of 1,000 tonnes of viscose staple fibre per year, with a second line under development for a further 1,000 tonnes of viscose filament fibre per year.
In what remains of this year, the group anticipates producing approximately 600 tonnes of Next Gen fibre. It warned that how pilot mills perform and supply chain flows could affect scale-up.
Founder of sustainability non-profit Canopy, Nicole Rycroft, welcomed the project. She said: “Bailu Group’s investment to develop in-house technology for repurposing post-consumer textiles while eliminating the pulp-making stage is a promising approach that will take the pressure off of vital forest ecosystems. We look forward to seeing how this technology performs and how quickly Bailu can bring it to commercial scale.”
