On the outskirts of Porto, in the Portuguese city of Vila Nova de Famalicão, are the buildings of the Center for Nanotechnology and Technical Materials (CENTI) and the Technological Textile Center (CITEVE) of Portugal. Here they work in a coordinated manner to position the Portuguese textile industry as a reference point for the new sustainable textile industry in Europe. Behind these walls is the pilot factory for the production of lyocell, which the cellulosa manufacturer Altri is trying to scale up for their controversial “Project Gama”, the mega-factory for lyocell that they want to build in the Galician city of Palas de Rei.
Altri remains determined to continue with Project Gama, despite opposition from local residents, Greenpeace and the Spanish government. These groups, including the ‘Ulloa Viva’ platform, express concerns about the project. The Spanish government, represented by Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz, and even Inditex, do not support the project and have not concluded a commercial agreement, as has happened with other sustainable textile initiatives. Altri wants to build the mega factory for lyocell in the heart of Galicia through the company Greenfiber (75 percent owned by Altri, 25 percent by Greenalia).
FashionUnited will visit the CENTI and CITEVE facilities on October 9, 2024. It is clear that Altri believes in the sustainable and circular nature of the project. They see it as a way to add value to Galicia’s forests and the European textile industry, which is increasingly focusing on sustainability and circularity. New European legislation, such as the Digital Product Passport (DPP), which will come into force soon, could restructure the textile and fashion industry. Altri believes that Galicia has the opportunity to become a global leader in sustainable textile production through Project Gama.
“It takes many years of research and investment to bring a technology to an industrial scale,” said Carlos Vaz Zeller, Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Altri, during our visit to CITEVE. “But now it is possible with Gama, because at Altri we have been working on a sustainable production process at all levels since 2014.”
In 2014, Altri, which previously only produced paper pulp, decided to diversify. They then begin investigating the applications of cellulosic fibers from plant materials in the textile industry. This research starts at their soluble pulp plant in Caima and is accelerated in 2019 through collaborations with CITEVE, a center where more than 400 researchers work on textile innovations, and CENTI, where more than 150 researchers focus on advanced materials and technologies.
The result is the “Altri/Centi lyocell pilot plant”, which according to Vaz Zeller is a “replica of what the Greenfiber plant in Palas de Rei could be”. The factory has the right raw materials and technology to produce lyocell. They want to add value to two strategic sectors, textiles and forestry. This gives them a “full value chain”, which according to Vaz Zeller “is unique and puts us in a privileged position” to lead the new European ecosystem of sustainable and circular textile production.
Project Gama goes beyond just lyocell production. Altri also conducts tests involving the processing of textile waste in lyocell production. The factory in Palas de Rei would therefore not only become a center for sustainable fibers, but also for the recycling and revaluation of textile waste.
A fiber of natural origin, 100 percent biodegradable and without microplastics or toxic substances
During the visit to the CENTI and CITEVE facilities, Carlos Vaz Zeller will be accompanied by Gabriel Sousa, Director of Innovation and Technological Development of Altri; Pedro Baptista, director of Altri operations in Spain; Raquel Almeida, director of Altri’s Caima factory; Braz Costa, Managing Director of CITEVE; Carla Silva, researcher at CITEVE’s biotechnology department; and Nelson Duraes, director of CENTI’s functional fiber development department. They have no hesitation in emphasizing the value and highly sustainable nature of the textile technological research carried out in recent years by CITEVE and CENTI, in collaboration with Altri. This research contributes to the construction of the pilot plant and will also contribute to the future factory for Project Gama.
With a focus on the sustainable ambitions pursued by the global textile and fashion industry, since their diversification in 2014, Altri has positioned itself to anticipate the adoption of the Fashion Industry Climate Action Declaration in Poland in December 2018. Launched under the auspices of the UN, this initiative aims to mobilize the fashion industry to reduce its environmental footprint. Targets include a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a commitment to identify a low-carbon pathway for the sector. According to Greenfiber, lyocell, the fiber on which Altri began researching with the construction of the pilot plant, is the most optimal solution to move forward with these commitments, as it is presented as “the most environmentally friendly plant fiber”, which is also “100 percent organic degradable”.
Among the properties of the fibers naturally derived from cellulosic materials, Greenfiber and Altri highlight that the lyocell fibers produced at the Project Gama factory will have a resistance comparable to that of polyester, but significantly higher than cotton. They also feel very soft and provide excellent moisture management, making them particularly suitable for warm climates and sportswear. Lyocell also offers a more sustainable alternative to synthetic fibers such as polyester or nylon, which often release microplastics during washing.
Lyocell production generates around 2.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of fiber produced, compared to 6 tonnes for cotton fibers (which also have a very high water footprint) and up to 12 tonnes for plastic fibers such as polyester. This reduction will be even greater at the Palas de Rei factory, where Altri says the lyocell will generate only 0.1 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of fibre. This is because the factory will be “the first in the world” to combine both necessary production processes for lyocell: the production of soluble fibers for textile applications and the production of lyocell fibers from those same soluble fibers. The factory uses a recyclable, non-toxic soluble substance, water, which is more than 99 percent recycled in a closed circuit, without emissions of harmful substances.
A project to revalue the wood from the Galician forests and position the region at “the global forefront of the sustainable textile industry”
With a planned investment of one billion euros and the creation of 500 jobs, Altri remains committed to realizing their sustainable and non-polluting lyocell fiber production process in Project Gama. They emphasize the benefits for Galician forests by using existing wood surpluses, without creating new eucalyptus plantations. Project Gama will thus both revalue Galician forests and position Galicia as a world leader in sustainable textile production.
Altri and Greenfiber reject the idea that their project contributes to the loss of biodiversity in Galician forests. They state that the factory will only use part of the 2.4 million cubic meters of eucalyptus wood exported from Galicia annually. This wood would instead be processed and revalued locally, without disrupting the moratorium on new eucalyptus plantations. According to them, there is sufficient wood available from existing forests.
During our visit, CITEVE’s Carla Silva and CITEVE’s Braz Costa highlight how the Digital Product Passport (DPP) for European products, to be introduced in 2026, will transform the textile sector. This passport provides consumers with detailed information about raw materials, production processes, water consumption, CO2 emissions and recycled material. It will clarify the difference between locally produced textiles and those from Asia, as well as between sustainable fibers such as lyocell and less environmentally friendly materials such as cotton and synthetic fibres.
Braz Costa from CITEVE explains that the digital passport will give the European textile industry a competitive advantage over Asia. He emphasizes that this is an opportunity for Galicia and Portugal to position themselves as leaders in the sustainable textile industry, in which Project Gama will play an important role.
FashionUnited has been invited to visit Altri’s pilot factory.
This article previously appeared on FashionUnited.FR. Translation and editing by Susan Zijp.
Source: fashionunited.nl
