Sri Lankan apparel giant MAS Holdings has secured a stake in HeiQ AeoniQ as part of its Plan for Change initiative to support the development of next-generation cellulosic filament fibres to replace polyester and nylon. Zurich headquartered HeiQ, and MAS Holdings, the largest apparel and textile manufacturer in South Asia with approximately USD2 billion in turnover, have entered a partnership whereby MAS to secures a stake in HeiQ AeoniQ GmbH, a subsidiary of HeiQ Group that will produce HeiQ AeoniQ, a climate-positive cellulosic yarn.

With the investment, MAS Holdings becomes the first manufacturer to partner with HeiQ AeoniQ in its efforts to provide a sustainable alternative to polyester and nylon. The investment is part of the MAS’ strategy to drive a positive environmental impact. The MAS Plan for Change aims to generate 50% of the company’s revenue through sustainable products by 2025, revolutionising the textile industry with a focus on innovation, sustainable sourcing, and pioneering circularity at scale.

With the closing of this deal, HeiQ and MAS agreed to a 5-year Offtake Agreement for 3000 tons of HeiQ AeoniQ yarn in 2025 and ,000 tons per year from 2026 to 2029, valued by HeiQ at around US$ 100 million. MAS will finalise the commitment within a stipulated time period after achieving milestone 1, and a mutual plan for commercialisation. HeiQ and MAS firmly believe that rapid scaling is key to facilitating the fast adoption of sustainable, circular technologies such as HeiQ AeoniQ.

Game-changer for the textiles industry

Since Q4 2021, HeiQ’s launch of the HeiQ AeoniQ technology has been attracting the attention of major global players in the textile and clothing industries. With its proprietary manufacturing method, for the first time in history, a cellulosic filament yarn can be made from a wide range of non-valorised feedstock and is able to reproduce comparable performance features of polyester or nylon, while being sustainable and endlessly circular, HeiQ says.

The HeiQ AeoniQ pilot plant in Austria has been manufacturing the continuous cellulosic filament yarn since Q3 2022, with up to a 100 tons capacity to be upscaled up to 300 tons by the end of 2023. HeiQ AeoniQ’s production scale-up is planned to have its definitive boost by early 2026 with the construction of an entirely new gigafactory capable of a 30,000-ton output per year, in an estimated USD 250 million investment.

Carlo Centonze, CEO of HeiQ Group, commented on the deal: “Since the beginning, HeiQ has pioneered textile innovation, revolutionising sustainable functionality and enhancing the lives of billions. Now, with the introduction of HeiQ AeoniQ, we solidify our unwavering commitment to disrupting the textile industry - a sector that has long held the dubious distinction of being the world's second-largest polluter. MAS' investment and offtake agreement serves as resounding proof that leading textiles value chain players recognize HeiQ AeoniQ as the ultimate game-changer, placing their trust in its transformative power, and is a natural result of the confidence built over a decade that HeiQ and MAS have been doing business together.” 

Group Chief Executive Officer of MAS Holdings, Suren Fernando added: “MAS was built on the foundational belief of doing the right thing. As a global organization nurturing over 100,000 individuals, we are convinced of our responsibility to drive positive change within the apparel industry through sustainable product solutions. We believe that this investment is an important step in our efforts to reshape our industry by driving innovation, collaboration, and scale. With HeiQ AeoniQ as a key catalyst, we are poised to pave the way for a more sustainable future.”

According to HeiQ, polyester and nylon, two oil-based fibres, virtually non-recyclable, account for about 70% of all the global textile production. They take between 350 to 1000 years to degrade in nature, are currently close loop recycled at less than 1%, and are at the origin of 35% of the microplastics that can be found in today's oceans, the company says.

HeiQ AeoniQ was innovated and is being hyper-scaled up to change this course of action, it concludes.

www.heiq.com