texfash.com: Please tell us how the very concept of the Swedish Wool Initiative came about. What was the ground situation that you were assessing which led to the launch of this Initiative? what was the wool market in Sweden like at that time (particularly regulations and compliance)? Who all at the organisation were involved in the launch of this initiative?
Johan Sidenmark: Axfoundation is running the Swedish Wool Initiative (TSWI) where actors across the value chain collaborate to build system capacity, scale up the use of Swedish wool and contribute to the transition to a sustainable and circular industry for fashion, outdoor and home textiles. Before TSWI there had been some pilot project, but none of them gathered the whole value chain. The unique thing with TSWI is that it brings together companies that normally would be competitors, but who in this context collaborate on a joint sustainability issue—to source regional produced wool for textile production the most sustainable way.
Together with the project’s academic partners and expert group, innovative solutions and products have been developed based on both research and practical experience. The project initiated from the fact that in Sweden most of the wool is burned or discarded, and at the same time we import large amounts of wool-yarn. Hence, Filippa K approached Axfoundation and wanted to make production of garments made from Swedish wool both scalable and profitable, and then we started TSWI as a project.
Before TSWI, the market for home textiles and garments from Swedish wool were fragmented, irregular and on a very small scale. Now we have several Swedish fashion and outdoor brands that regularly put garments made from Swedish wool on the market every season. Within home textile, blankets made 100% of Swedish wool sell out very quick; they literally are flying of the shelves.
The ambition is to establish a circular industry for fashion, outdoor and home textiles through the development of circular products based on regionally sourced wool fibres.
The Swedish Wool Initiative is a collaboration between about 20 organisations. Axfoundation is the project lead and collaborates with, among others Filippa K, Fjällräven, Tiger of Sweden, Klippan Yllefabrik, Smart Textiles/Science Park Borås, IVL Swedish Environmental Institute, Chalmers Industriteknik, Circularista, LE Ullkonsult, Norrby gård, Västkustens Ullinsamling/CC Wool, Ullcentrum, Ullkontoret, Svenska Fårklipparförbundet, LRF and TrusTrace. Animalia, Swedish Sheep Breeding Association and Norilia are part of the project’s group of experts. The project is supported by Sweden’s innovation agency Vinnova’s programme area Sustainable industry.