Swedish Wool Initiative Elevates Standard for Fashion and Textiles

How has the initiative been able to bring wool rearers under one body? What is the strength now? And, how do you think it will transform and increase the use of Swedish Wool?
Johan Sidenmark: Wool rearers are already organised in Sweden under one body (Swedish Sheep Breeding Association), and they are part of the project as an expert, representing the sheep farmers. We also have individual wool rearers in the project, contributing with wool to the industry partners. The Swedish Sheep Breeding Association welcomed the initiative, and we want to help them realise the value of regionally produced wool.  

In Sweden, approximately 1,000 tonnes of wool is produced annually, of which only half is utilised. At the same time, Sweden imported about 1,745 tonnes of wool in the form of raw wool, carded wool, and yarn (2020). Before TSWI, only 27% of the Swedish wool came into use, and in 2020 about 46% was being used. The ambition is that 0% wool is wasted, and it is estimated that more than 50% is used today, largely thanks to TSWI and other regional wool projects in Sweden.

Developing viable and sustainable market conditions for Swedish wool is a complex task requiring collaboration, incentives and practical solutions throughout the whole value chain. We are now looking to widen the project scope and collaborate with industries in other sectors, eg. within furniture and building, to find more use of Swedish wool.

Why did Axfoundation feel the need to set up a new wool standard? What was wrong with the existing Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) that you wanted either to rectify or build on?
Johan Sidenmark: These are two separate system, or standards, and they can both be used in parallel. TSWI has developed the Swedish Wool Standard, and it is a classification system for Swedish wool. The standard simplifies the process of selling and purchasing high-quality Swedish wool, opening up completely new market possibilities for wool rearers. The process of wool classification entails a wool broker procuring wool from diverse farms, meticulously assessing the properties of the raw wool, and classifying it into distinct quality types and grades. 

A notable advantage is that brands can now acquire larger quantities of precisely the desired quality of Swedish wool. This diminishes Sweden’s reliance on imported wool, which often carries a larger carbon footprint and falls short in terms of animal welfare standards. We looked at international standards, but the Swedish wool differs so much from international classification system that it made no sense in using them. Hence, we developed our own system based on the qualities of Swedish breeds. It has been inspired by the Norwegian wool standard developed by Animalia.

Regarding the RWS, in general, just by following the Swedish law and other national regulations, farmers will achieve requirements in RWS. Swedish law regarding environment, animal welfare and working condition are often stricter than RWS. Hence, it is not so widespread in Sweden. Some Swedish companies have adopted RWS as part of their sustainability strategy.

How does the new system of grading work? How different is it from the existing standards? How compatible is it with other standards and how acceptable will it be outside your country?
Johan Sidenmark: The Swedish wool market currently encompasses numerous sheep breeds, each presenting a wide array of wool types and qualities. Through classification, even smaller quantities of wool from small-scale farms spread across the country can be gathered, classified collectively, and subsequently matched with the demands of buyers.

It is to some part compatible with other standards, as you can compare microns, length, colour, vegetable matter and character. But as I mentioned, it is meant to be used in Sweden only, e.g. the Swedish trait is that fibres have unusually smooth surfaces (lustrous as well as slippery) and unusually low crimp. That is not useful to compare with eg. merino wool. Also in Sweden we have wider span of both fibre coarseness and length.

The Swedish Wool Standard consists of a set of working methods and guidelines, including a classification system for Swedish wool. The Swedish Wool Standard aims to simplify and clarify the work along the wool's entire value chain. It can be used in practice by all actors working with Swedish wool on an industrial scale—from farmers and shearers to wool brokers and buyers. The hands-on methods and guidelines described in the Swedish wool standard aim to contribute to effective working methods and ensure the right quality of the wool from farm to sale, the right wool at the right place to the right price. The standard includes descriptions of processes, best practices, and checklists for quality assurance.

Swedish wool is hard to treat in the same way as international wool in the production steps from raw material to product due to its varying quality and often special character. The Swedish Wool Standard takes into account that Swedish wool has different properties and areas of use and acknowledges the differences between breeds and between younger and older sheep. While the quality of the wool partly depends on breed characteristics, it can also be largely affected by the care and handling during shearing and sorting.

Wool classing is the production of uniform, predictable, classes of wool, carried out by examining the characteristics of the wool in its raw state and classing (grading) it accordingly. The Swedish classification system is the first of its kind and has been developed based on the specific conditions of the Swedish wool market but with the ambition to harmonise with international best practices for grading and classifying wool. The wool is grouped into different quality types based on its characteristics. Categorising the wool based on similar traits (rather than breed) allows wool from different farms and breeds with similar characteristics to be combined into larger quantities. Each quality type is divided into several quality classes (A-I) based on the parameters that define potential application areas for the wool.

Defining Parameters and Methods of Analysis

• Length: The staple length of the stretched wool fibre is measured in millimetres (mm). Estimated by the classifier. Samples can be sent for objective quality control. The New Zealand Wool Testing Authority (NZWTA) has developed a method that is widely used and adopted by the Wool Testing Authority Europe (WTAE).
• Fineness: Measured in microns (µ) which is 1/1000 mm. Various methods for measuring microns are available; some classifiers use portable tools, some classifiers can estimate the fineness based on the feel of the fibres, or samples can be sent for objective quality control using an OFDA instrument (Optical Fibre Diameter Analysis).
• Colour: Defined as white or pigmented. If the wool is pigmented the classifier describes the colour (e.g. medium brown, black). Samples can be sent for objective quality control. International Wool Textile Organization (IWTO) offers a standard for Wool Color Measurement, IWTO 56 (y-z).
• Vegetable Matter (VM): Amount of unwanted organic materials such as wood, hay, straw, seeds, chips, and similar. Estimated by the classifier as low, medium, or high. Samples can be sent for objective quality control. IWTO offers a method for analysing vegetable matter in percentage.
• Character: Used to describe the character of the wool to easier enable wool from different farms and breeds to be combined into larger quantities. Subjective assessment by the classifier. Objective quality control is not available.

What changes are now visible across the supply chain since the adoption of the initiative? How do you think this initiative could transform and increase the use of Swedish wool? How will all this information reach the consumer?
Johan Sidenmark: The Swedish wool market is characterised by several different sheep breeds with a wide variety of wool types. In addition, several smaller sheep farms are geographically scattered across the Swedish countryside. 

This complicates transport logistics and poses challenges in creating profitable business models throughout the value chain. TSWI has identified the prioritised bottlenecks. Now, the journey continues to find the right practical solutions and ways forward to address these.

We have concluded that Swedish wool has great potential. The wool's different properties are an advantage as it can be used for several different purposes, and thus have several different types of buyers with different types of requirements for the product and the raw material.

Have you been in touch with the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) or Textile Exchange (which runs the RWS) in coordination matters? Could you please elaborate?
Johan Sidenmark: As the RWS already are in use in Sweden, and the Swedish wool standard is a classification standard, we have not seen the need for coordination. They are two different tools that can be used on same time, but for different purposes. 

We have looked for inspiration from both IWTO and TE, but not had any meetings with them in TSWI. But maybe we will do this in the future.