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Sustainability issues permeate our society, notably affecting the textile and fashion industry whose various materials leave significant footprints. A resource that has not yet been fully recognized in all countries and regions is wool, classified as a sustainable textile material. In Sweden, for instance, sheep farming is extensive, yet wool is currently viewed merely as a byproduct (beside meat). Because of this, over half of all Swedish wool is discarded or incinerated as waste. Meanwhile, instead of utilizing this local resource, 1,650 tons of processed wool are imported annually.

Previous studies indicate that Swedish wool could constitute a regional, biobased, and renewable resource with significant potential. There is an industry demand for finding local raw materials to develop circular products and value chains. Previous findings also demonstrate consumer interest in Swedish wool as a viable alternative, albeit potentially priced higher than other options.

However, there are significant challenges in establishing entirely new sustainable value chains, particularly fo r Swedish wool. Cooperation among various stakeholders and organizations is essential. Swedish sheep farming comprises small or medium-sized enterprises, often geographically dispersed. These individual companies lack the resources needed to independently shear, collect, sort, handle, store, and distribute the wool produced by the sheep. Therefore, scaling up the dispersed operations is necessary to capitalize on Swedish wool, which can be achieved through collaboration and innovative solutions. “The Swedish Wool Initiative Dalarna” serves as a pilot project expected to provide an example of how to establish infrastructure, standardize the market with qualities and prices, develop products with various wool qualities, test a newly developed wool standard in a real-world environment, and develop new business models to make the entire value chain and its components sustainable and profitable. One challenge is also to investigate whether and how the value chain for wool production is truly sustainable. Previous studies (life cycle analyses) argue that this is the case, but it is not firmly established and quantified. An ongoing task is to develop a model for measuring and evaluating the sustainability of Swedish wool, considering geographical variations.

In this session and paper, we introduce and discuss this wool initiative. We have not yet decided on a theoretical base for this, but we are concerning Circular Economy Theory, Supply Chain Theory or/and Sustainability Assessment Framework.

The project is led by the Ax Foundation and financed by, among others, Vinnova and Region Dalarna.