ANDRITZ Bast Fibre Line Commissioned at Ekolution

International technology group ANDRITZ has recently commissioned a state-of-the-art teXline bast fibre line at the new factory of Ekolution, a pioneer in sustainable building materials, in Malmö, Sweden.

The line will expand Ekolution’s production capacity, producing environmentally friendly hemp fibres and nonwoven felts made from industrial hemp. The scope of supply included equipment for hemp decortication and refining, combined with a neXline airlay line for producing the felts.

Our company is at the forefront of green materials with insulation and nonwoven products that are bio-based, carbon-negative and energy-efficient. ANDRITZ helps us achieve our sustainability targets through a process that makes the most of our raw materials while reducing resource consumption. We can also rely on ANDRITZ’s expertise in service and digitalisation in the future to optimise our operations.

Remi Loren, CEO of Ekolution

The ANDRITZ line, designed to obtain hemp fibre without impurities through a gentle process, is equipped with machinery that has a small land footprint and operates at low energy consumption. The decortication and refining equipment will produce high-quality fibres from up to 5 tonnes of feedstock per hour. Some of the fibres will be fed into a neXline airlay flexiloft+ line producing up to 1.5 tonnes of nonwovens felt per hour for various applications.

We are proud to be part of this project, which is fully in line with our commitment to provide sustainable and circular technologies that support the green transition.

Francis-Elias Junker, Sales Area Manager for the ANDRITZ Nonwovens & Textile division

About Ekolution
Ekolution, established in Sweden in 2013, produces bio-based building solutions and materials using hemp from its own plantations as a raw material. Its hemp fibre insulation is the first with an Environmental Product Declaration (EDP) confirming that it is carbon-negative (more CO2 is sequestered in the industrial hemp than is emitted in the production process). Ekolution’s hemp panels and nonwoven products have recently been used in the construction of a high-tech logistics centre in Stockholm, the world’s largest building project using hemp fibre insulation. In addition to the construction industry, Ekolution’s hemp products can also be used in the automotive, textile, furniture, acoustics, packaging, pulp (paper) and other segments where green, natural fibres are in demand.