Textile

Sustainable Textile Fibre Production Development with Altri, Spain

The demand for sustainable textile fibres is growing quickly globally.

To support this growth, the Portuguese pulp producer Altri has become the industrial partner to public-private consortium Impulsa (Society for the Development of Strategic Projects of Galicia) as the lead investor and technologist to study the wood-based textile fibers biofactory exclusively.

AFRY delivers engineering, site selection and integrated environmental authorization services assignment for a greenfield textile fiber factory in Spain. In addition, AFRY also supports Altri to conceive, create and implement foundations for Industry 4.0 technologies in this new plant.

This biofactory will use Galician wood as the primary raw material together with recycled remains from the textile industry to produce dissolving pulp and Lyocell fibre. The plant will be designed based on the best available techniques (BAT), best environmental practices, as well as cutting-edge proven technologies and the production will be fossil-fuel-free. The project is expected to benefit from the “Next Generation EU” program.

The industrial biorefinery to be built from scratch will be able to provide the textile cluster of the Iberian peninsula with sustainable cellulosic fibers, contributing to the strengthening of the circular economy and decarbonisation of an important economic sector such as the textile sector.

Altri designs and develops the biofactory project supported by AFRY

Altri is responsible for designing and developing the biofactory project to transform wood into a textile fiber, evaluating site locations and exploring alliances with the entire value chain. AFRY will be supporting the project development and planned project implementation.

AFRY has been involved in the project development from the very early stages. AFRY supported the project concept idea initially developed by Altri and led the preliminary feasibility study. A multi-disciplinary team of AFRY’s engineering and consulting experts is currently supporting Altri on the site selection activities, engineering and permitting processes.

 

We are proud to be part of this strategic project in Spain with the target to take big steps towards sustainable fashion in Spain and Europe. Increased use of wood-based fibres in the textile industry with a plan to combine it with recycled textile fibres will open several new opportunities in this sector. Already in the early planning phase of the project, we see great future opportunities in supporting Altri’s digital strategy development

  Nicholas Oksanen, EVP and Head of Division Process Industries at AFRY.  

 

 

Project facts:

  • Project: a greenfield textile fiber factory
  • Client: Altri
  • Location: Spain
  • Duration: 2021-

 

AFRY services delivered:

  • Preliminary & Feasibility studies
  • Site selection
  • Environmental authorisation services
  • Industry 4.0 foundations design
  • Engineering services