SUSTAINABILITY
Transforming textiles
Infinited Fiber, a Finnish start-up, has invested heavily in a technology which can transform textiles that would otherwise be burned or sent to landfills, into a new clothing fibre. Called Infinna, the fibre is already being used by global brands including Patagonia, H&M and Inditex, which owns Zara. Around the world, an estimated 92 million tonnes of textiles waste is created each year, according to non-profit Global Fashion Agenda, and this figure is set to rise to more than 134 million tonnes by 2030, if clothing production continues along its current track. This finished fibre can then simply "hop into the traditional production processes" used by High Street brands, replacing cotton and synthetic fibres, to produce everything from shirts and dresses to denim jeans. The company has already attracted so much interest in its technology that it recently announced it was investing €400m (£345m; $400m) to build its first commercial-scale factory at a disused paper mill in Lapland. The goal is to produce 30,000 tonnes of fibre a year once it's operating at full capacity in 2025. That is equivalent to the fibre needed for approximately 100 million T-shirts.
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