Sustainable fibre technology Spinnova and Fortum, a major European energy company, worked together to develop prototypes of clothing made of wheat straw-based fabric.

Spinnova developed a technology for manufacturing cellulose-based textiles, such as rayon or viscose, without the use of harmful chemicals or waste streams. Usually, these textiles are made of wood cellulose. In the Fortum collaboration, however, wheat straw was used.

Wheat straw is agricultural waste, which is commonly discarded or even burned in the fields. Using it in textile would open up many possibilities for the fashion sector, and would be a huge step in a more sustainable direction.

The straw was first processed with “highly sustainable fractionation technology, developed by Fortum’s associate company Chempolis Oy.” Spinnova’s technology turns micro fibrillated cellulose directly and mechanically into fibre, without any solvents or harmful chemical processes. Read more about Spinnova’s process here.

The new textile was used to create a knitted T-shirt, a jacket, and a skirt, which were showcased at the Textile Exchange Sustainability Conference in Vancouver, 15-17 October.

Fortum and Spinnova plan to establish sustainable fibre production in Fortum’s future biorefineries that will use residual biomasses such as agricultural waste. The refineries will be based on fractionation technology, enabling highly resource-efficient utilisation of wheat straw and resulting in significantly lower environmental impact compared to other processing technologies.

Photo: Fortum/Spinnova