Birla Cellulose
- Website: https://www.birlacellulose.com/
About Birla Cellulose
Birla Cellulose, part of the Aditya Birla Group, is a leading sustainability focused Man-Made Cellulosic Fibers (MMCF) producer and operates 12 sites that apply environmentally efficient closed loop technologies that recycle materials and conserve natural resources. Its five global advanced research centres are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and pilot plants. Its sustainable products Livaeco by Birla Cellulose™, Liva Reviva, Birla Excel™ (lyocell) and Birla Spunshades™ are designed with superior sustainable credentials.
Birla Cellulose collaborates actively with its upstream and downstream partners with an aim to create a bigger and broader impact on sustainability. It works closely with global sustainability focussed organisations like Canopy, Cascale (previously SAC), Textile Exchange, Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC), Changing Markets Foundation, Fashion for Good amongst others to continually learn and apply the best practices in its global operations and across its value chain.
Related Projects
Sorting for Circularity India
This project was designed to organise and optimise India’s textile waste supply chain. By evaluating various waste streams for collection, sorting, and pre-processing, the initiative aimed to enhance circularity in textiles. It sought to improve collection and sorting systems, foster recycling infrastructure, and introduce innovative solutions to generate new revenue streams and next-generation materials from textile waste-reducing reliance on virgin resources and minimising landfill and incineration.
Sorting for Circularity India: Post-Consumer Pilot
India generates around 3,944k tonnes of post-consumer textile waste annually, with 48% viable for recycling feedstock, though inadequate sorting and recycling systems prevent full utilisation. This project involved two primary pilots that tested sorting innovations: Matoha’s FabriTell desktop scanner for semi-automated sorting and PICVISA’s ECOSORT for fully automated sorting. The pilots aimed to assess these technologies’ ability to categorise waste by fibre and colour efficiently, ultimately facilitating quality feedstock production for recycling. Initial findings suggest India could effectively harness a closed-loop textile recycling system, with cotton and polyester blends as dominant waste types.
Sorting For Circularity Europe
The Sorting for Circularity Europe project was launched in early 2021 and initiated by Fashion for Good together with Circle Economy. The project was made possible by catalytic funding from Laudes Foundation and brand partners, adidas, BESTSELLER, Inditex and Zalando, with H&M Group as key project partners. The project addressed the need for data on textile waste in the market, identifying waste types and recycling opportunities.
From Waste to Black Pigment
The aim of the project was to validate the use of black pigments derived from waste materials to replace conventional carbon black from virgin fossil fuels in dope dyeing applications. The aim is to reduce the environmental impact of textile dyeing by using renewable, eco-friendly pigments sourced from waste.
Agriwaste Natural Fibres
The aim of the project was to explore the use of agricultural residues to produce natural fibres, reducing reliance on conventional fibres like cotton. Building on the findings of the Laudes Foundation commissioned report ‘Spinning Future Threads’.
Full Circle Textiles Project – Cellulosics (FCTP-C)
The ambition of the FCTP-C Project was to validate economically viable and scalable promising technologies in cellulosic chemical recycling from a select group of innovators to tackle these issues. Leading global organisations Laudes Foundation, Birla Cellulose, Kering, PVH Corp. and Target joined Fashion for Good to explore the disruptive solutions, with the goal of creating new fibres and garments from used clothing and ultimately drive industry-wide adoption.
