The flax used by Svenskt Tenn in its textiles grows along the coast of the North Sea, between northern France and southern Holland. Both the climate and the soil here are ideal for cultivating flax. The company that supplies Svenskt Tenn with linen is also based here and has been in operation since 1864.

Already back in the late 1200s there were flax trading houses in Flanders. In the middle of the 1800s, no less than 71 per cent of the population in the city of Tielt was involved in the linen industry. Linen has been used for more than ten thousand years and is nature’s gift to man, not least because the entire flax plant can be put to use. The seed is turned into oil to colour and treat wood surfaces and the oil is also used in cosmetics. Linen fibres are used as sutures (surgical seams). Additionally, paper and fibre plates can be made from flax by- products. Most well known, however, is the flax that is turned into fabric. In this case, the stems are used and processed in various ways before they can be spun into thread and woven into linen, which is both durable and beautiful with its distinct texture.

Flax grows quickly and naturally. It takes just one hundred days from sowing to harvest and flax doesn’t need to be watered, fertilised or sprayed. Svenskt Tenn’s suppliers work with so-called dew retting of the stems. It is a process whereby the fibres are extracted naturally, without adding water.

Since 2014, Svenskt Tenn’s linen supplier has reached the silver level in accordance with the Cradle-to-Cradle philosophy (C2C) for all of the steps in the process right up to the weaving of the linen. C2C is a holistic design approach, which aims to close material cycles of different kinds. Already on the drawing board it is important to think through what and how the product will be manufactured so that it can be reused and recycled in an optimal way. Everything is done to be as gentle as possible when it comes to the impact on humans and the environment.

Industrial spinning and weaving of linen have a minimal impact on the environment. Svenskt Tenn’s supplier, which wants to be at the forefront of these efforts, has been running its mill in a carbon-neutral way since 2014, due to its use of wind power.