Is Sweden the heart of a new circular textiles economy?

The fashion industry’s search for sustainable fashion solutions is propelling Sweden at the front of the startup scene, and here’s what you should know.

Sweden’s Material Exchange, barely more than a year old, closed a €5m round on Q4 last year with the goal of accelerating the fashion supply chain process that by nature will enable the reduction of material waste to support a more sustainable future, already working with 400 suppliers and 50 brands globally Regenerated fibres are also booming in the region and the cellulosic fibre portfolio is getting a makeover, with two significant recent news that are propelling a new generation of man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCF) to the fashion industry.

Man-made cellulosic fibres of the likes of as Viscose/Rayon, Lyocell, Modal and Cupro, together form the second largest group of cellulosic fibres after naturally-sourced cotton. Derived from wood pulp and other natural plant materials that all contain cellulose in varying amounts, they are not equal in terms of sustainability — Yes, we’ re looking right at you Mr. Viscose. Viscose is tainted with issues around chemical use, deforestation and human rights violation. Click here to read about next-generation cellulosic fibres.

TreeToTextile is one company looking at solving this problem. This week, the company announced their plans to build a US$42.5 million demonstration plant…