ZÜRICH, July 6, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- MAS Holdings, a
global apparel & textile manufacturing and tech
conglomerate, headquartered in Sri Lanka with a global footprint across 16
countries, secures a stake in HeiQ AeoniQ™ as part of its Plan for
Change initiative to support the development of next-generation
cellulosic filament fibers to replace polyester and
nylon.
HeiQ from Switzerland, leader in materials innovation,
and MAS Holdings, a global apparel & textile
manufacturing and tech conglomerate headquartered in Sri Lanka, and the largest
apparel and textile manufacturer in South
Asia with approximately USD2
billion in turnover, entered a partnership for
MAS to secure a stake in HeiQ AeoniQ GmbH, a subsidiary of
HeiQ Group that will produce HeiQ AeoniQ™, a
climate-positive cellulosic yarn.
With this investment, MAS Holdings becomes the first
manufacturer to partner with HeiQ AeoniQ™ in their efforts to
provide a sustainable alternative to polyester and nylon. The
investment to be made by MAS Holdings is part of the group's
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, revolutionizing 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 3,000 tons of HeiQ AeoniQ™ yarn in
2025 and 5,000 tons per year from 2026 to 2029, valued by HeiQ in
the aggregate to US$ 100 million. MAS
will finalize this commitment within a stipulated time period after
achieving milestone 1, and a mutual plan for commercialization.
HeiQ and MAS firmly believe that rapid scaling is key to
facilitating the fast adoption of sustainable, circular
technologies such as HeiQ AeoniQ™.
HeiQ AeoniQ™: a game-changer for the textile
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 the proprietary manufacturing method, for the first
time in history, a cellulosic filament yarn can be made from a wide
range of non-valorized feedstock and is able to reproduce
comparable performance features of polyester or nylon, while being
sustainable and endlessly circular.
The HeiQ AeoniQ™ pilot plant in Austria is manufacturing this revolutionary
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.
The HeiQ AeoniQ™ 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 a 250M USD estimated
investment.
Carlo Centonze, CEO of
HeiQ Group, said, "Since the beginning, HeiQ has
pioneered textile innovation, revolutionizing 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 adds, "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."
Polyester and nylon, two oil-based fibers, 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. HeiQ AeoniQ™ was innovated and is being
hyper-scaled up to change this course of action.
About HeiQ
Founded in 2005 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH)
and listed on the London Stock Exchange Main Market (XLON:HEIQ),
HeiQ is a leader in textile and materials innovation creating some
of the most effective, durable and high-performance technologies on
the market today. HeiQ strives to improve the lives of billions of
people through pioneering textiles and materials innovation.
Combining three areas of expertise – scientific research, specialty
materials manufacturing, and consumer ingredient branding – HeiQ is
the ideal innovation partner to create differentiating and
sustainable products and capture the added value at the point of
sale. With its 14 offices, 7 manufacturing sites, and 7 R&D
hubs, HeiQ today employs 200+ professionals. It has a total
capacity of 45'000 tons of specialty chemicals per year and serves
over 1'000 industrial customers in over 60 countries. Today, HeiQ's
technologies can be found in 60+ countries. For more information,
visit www.heiq.com
About MAS Holdings
MAS Holdings, the largest apparel tech company in
South Asia, is among the most
recognized design-to-delivery solution providers in apparel and
textile manufacturing. Home to a community of over 110,000 people,
today, MAS spans across manufacturing plants in 16 countries, with
established design locations placed in key style centers across the
world. Catering to the demands of a dynamic and ever-changing
industry, the MAS portfolio has expanded exponentially; into
brands, wearable technology, FemTech, start-ups and fabric parks
worldwide.
Over 35 years of operations, MAS has gained global
recognition for its ethical and sustainable working environment and
for the organization's tireless efforts in social development and
women's empowerment. Today, the company's efforts to drive positive
impact are outlined in the MAS Plan for Change, a commitment to
create sustainable change under three areas of focus: products,
lives, and planet. Through these initiatives, MAS aims to inspire
all employees to be changemakers, enabling dreams and enriching the
fabric of life on our planet.
Visit www.masholdings.com for more
details.
About HeiQ AeoniQ™
HeiQ AeoniQ™ is HeiQ's key initiative to disrupt the
textile industry. As the global leader in textile innovations, HeiQ
aims to create the world's first climate-positive continuous
cellulosic filament yarn through a proprietary manufacturing
process, reproducing the properties of polyester and nylon yarns
for the first time in a cellulosic, durable, biodegradable, and
endlessly recyclable fiber. HeiQ has established HeiQ AeoniQ™ as a
stand-alone company, allowing its business partners to participate
from the development stage and be part of the team pioneering this
initiative to reverse the carbon footprint in the textile industry.
To make HeiQ AeoniQ™ possible, HeiQ entered a first mover brand
partnership with HUGO BOSS, and
together they turned HeiQ AeoniQ™ into a piece of garment. The
LYCRA Company is involved in this initiative as the global
distributor. MAS Holdings became the newest partner of the
project.
For more information, visit
https://www.heiq-aeoniq.com/
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SOURCE MAS Holdings; HeiQ