OnceMore is a technique created by Södra, a Swedish forest-owner organization, and Lenzing AG, an Austrian specialty fiber provider, that turns mixtures of polyester and cotton fibers into textile pulp. Owners of sustainably managed forests, primarily spruce and pine, supply pulpwood to Södra’s pulp factory in Väröbacka, Sweden. Södra Innovation, a research center for evaluating novel concepts in pulp and sawmills, is also housed on the property.
Less pollution is produced when wood from sustainably managed forests is combined with textile waste in the OnceMore process, which provides an alternative to artificial cellulosic fibers like lyocell or viscose. Södra purchases mixtures of polyester and cotton fiber from waste management and recycling businesses, sorts the materials, and then combines the cotton fibers with certified wood cellulose to revitalize them. To provide energy for the procedure, the separated polyester fibers are burned.
Recycled textiles make up 20% of the final pulp, which has been validated by the Recycle Claim Standard. Södra wants to raise this percentage to 50%. Though experiments with processing colored textiles are ongoing, only white and off-white materials are currently processed.
Textile waste with a minimum 70% cotton content, either cotton or polycotton, is gathered by Södra. The Salvation Army, the Textile Services Association (a UK organization for commercial laundry and textile rentals), Frankenhuis (a Dutch textile recycling company), Rester (a Finnish company that recovers business textiles), Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto Oy (a Finnish waste management company), and the Netherlands are among the current partners.
