AltMat’s alternative natural cellulose fibre
AltMat is developing a biomass-derived fibre that taps an underutilised resource, crop waste, and the pollution that disposing of it can cause, said Callie Clayton, speaking at the Avantex Fashion Innovation Pitch session at Texworld. The patented process to create the natural cellulose fibres was seven years in the making, she said.
Based in India, the company was founded by Shikha Shah, who is CEO, and has been steadily scaling up production from lab stage in 2019 to pilot scale and it now operates a 500 to 1,000-tonne per year factory in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
The company transforms agro-industry biomass from banana, hemp and flax crops through an enzymatic process that extracts the cellulose fibres, without modifying them. Altag fibres are thus akin to cotton or linen, and are not regenerated manmade cellulosic fibres like viscose. “We preserve the natural cellulose chain as is but upgrade and upcycle it to become spinnable and dyeable. Hence, the final output is as rich as linen and cotton-like in feel,” Shikha Shah told Inside Denim.
The fibres are produced in average lengths of 38mm, for cotton spinning systems, or 50 mm, for wool spinning. “The coarser counts, from 0 to 2 Ne, can be used in applications such as carpets, and can be 100% Altag. For apparel, our yarns range from 6 ne to 30 ne and can be spun in blends of 20-40% Altag,” she said.
AltMat makes the staple length fibre in-house and works with spinning and fabric manufacturing partners who supply yarns and fabrics. Arvind and Positive Materials have integrated the fibre into their ranges. The premium fibre is said to be priced under linen and wool, but higher than better cottons.
