Pulp makers in Northern Europe are trying to develop new ways to use pine trees and birch for clothes or sofa covers making. This way, they are helping the industry to meet the demand from furniture firms, who ask for alternatives to cotton, according to The Hindu Business Line.
The man textile from timber, viscose, hasn’t been produced in the North because production stopped almost 10 years ago because of environmental issues. Yet, the cotton prices started to rise back in 2011, contributing to an increased demand for lyocell (made from wood pulp) and viscose.
Also, the forestry industry was affected by a lower newsprint demand and by the foreign competition.
The main producers of the mentioned clothes are Lenzing (Austria), Aditya Birla (India) and Sateri (South Africa). In Northern Europe, there are only 3 mills that export dissolving pulp, which can be turned into textile fiber. Thus, local firms as IKEA or Hennes & Mauritz want to develop a greener image and the industry will work on setting up factories to meet environmental rules, as HBL reports.
Markus Mannstrom, Chief Technical Officer of Finland’s Stora Enso, stated that “we have the forest here in the Nordics, we have our pulp mills. It would be better for us if more dissolving pulp was needed in our region.”
As Oliver Lansdell at forest products industry consultancy Hawkins Wright, predicts, the global output of pulp to be used for textiles is expected to reach a 30% increase by 2020. Also, Sodra, the Swedish association which owns 50,000 small forest owners, has already turned some pulp and papers machines into textile pulp machines, as to meet the growing demand.
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