Well protected against wind and weather – that usually means jackets and trousers based on petroleum. The Finnish company UPM wants to show how the production of outdoor clothing should work sustainably. The Finns chose Saxony-Anhalt as the location for what they claim to be the world’s first industrial-scale biorefinery. Where the heart of the chemical industry beat in the GDR, the future is now being worked on again.
In the Leuna industrial park, beech trunks are stacked in long rows like in a sawmill, amid silver pipes, bridges and industrial chimneys. Soon, where there is just a huge construction site, plastic will be made from wood.
The first fleece jacket made from wood-based polyester
“Many corporations have clearly defined targets by when they want to produce in a climate-neutral manner,” says Konrad Gebauer, Head of Process Development at UPM. The Finnish company does not use petroleum as the raw material for the production of basic chemical substances that are used in the manufacture of textiles, rubber and detergents, but rather wood – beech wood, to be precise. There is already a noteworthy cooperation with Vaude, the manufacturer of outdoor clothing from Baden-Württemberg. Together they want to produce the first fleece jacket made from wood-based polyester.
“This is exactly the same as what the established chemical industry produces from fossil sources,” says Gebauer. “However, with beech wood we use a renewable raw material as a starting material.” In chemical processes, the wood is split up in such a way that in the end there are the same chemical substances that can also be produced from petroleum. This proves that the next level of sustainable textiles is already possible, the company said.
Not without criticism
But the development is also viewed critically: It is good and right for the first manufacturers to rely on more sustainable raw materials and products, says environmental expert Viola Wohlgemuth from Greenpeace. “But they are not the masses and not everyone can afford this type of clothing.” In addition, many companies are currently pouncing on wood as a renewable raw material, so that new competitive struggles have arisen as a result. Other manufacturers, such as the Austrian company Lenzing, are already using wood for the textile industry. The WWF recently published a study with the University of Kassel: Today there is not enough wood either in Germany or worldwide to meet the demand in the long term.
Environmental organizations agree that it is particularly important to end waste so as not to overuse wood as a raw material. The Federal Environment Agency in Dessau-Roßlau also states that the textile industry is strongly influenced by globalization. According to a UBA report, around 90 percent of the clothing bought in Germany comes from imports, mostly from China, Turkey and Bangladesh.
Circular economy as the only way
According to environmental organizations, the only way to real sustainability is to enter a circular economy. The manufactured products would then have to be recycled again. “There will be no technical solution for overexploitation. We have to say goodbye to this fairy tale,” says Wohlgemuth of Greenpeace.
Vaude also relies on this. “By integrating UPM’s bio-based materials, we can further explore and exploit the possibilities of the circular economy,” the company said. For this, the fashion company relies on the raw materials from Leuna. More than 220,000 tons of chemical substances are to be produced each year in the new biorefinery in Leuna. To this end, UPM is investing around EUR 1.18 billion in the new plant. Only a few days ago, however, the company had to announce that the start of production would be postponed until the end of 2024. It was actually planned for the beginning of next year.
Such initiatives can definitely make a contribution to sustainability, says Wohlgemuth. “If they make it, then the other manufacturers have no more excuses.” (dpa)