China opens first plant for recycled textile dissolving pulp

Yibin Grace is located in Sichuan, China and has a combined production capacity of 450,000 tonnes/year of viscose staple fibre, viscose filament yarn, and lyocell products.

Yibin Grace – a leading producer of man-made cellulosic fibre (MMCF) products (viscose staple fibre/filament yarn and lyocell) – opened the first recycled textile dissolving pulp facility in China. This marks a significant milestone in the fashion industry’s shift to a more resilient, circular viscose supply chain. Using post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste from supply chain partners, the new pilot facility is expected to produce high quality, low-carbon dissolving pulp, which can be used in a variety of MMCF products.  

With an initial capacity of 1500 tonne per year, Yibin’s facility is built to address the growing need for circular materials to replace the use of high-carbon forest fibre in the fashion sector. Aligned with China’s national goals of achieving a 30 per cent reduction in textile waste by 2030, and building on the pioneering work done by Next Gen innovators such as Circulose, Yibin intends to expand its Next Gen production to 60,000 tonne by 2027 with market support.   

“Canopy is thrilled with Yibin Grace’s leadership with the launch of China’s first Next Gen textile dissolving pulp mill,” said Nicole Rycroft of environmental not-for-profit, Canopy. “Expanding circular production positions the sector to withstand supply volatility associated with increased forest fires and to capture markets looking for low-impact materials. We look forward to Yibin scaling this technology to commercial levels and being an early-solution provider to the textile sector. This is just the beginning!” 

Yibin Grace is located in Sichuan, China and has a combined production capacity of 450,000 tonnes/year of viscose staple fibre, viscose filament yarn, and lyocell products. It was also one of the first MMCF producers to use Circulose recycled pulp in its viscose staple fibre and viscose filament lines, under the brand name ReGracell. Yibin Grace has been working collaboratively with Canopy since 2018 and earned a Dark Green Shirt in the 2024 Hot Button Report. It has no known risk of sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests.