Denim, made even better with new bio-based, recycled, and recyclable sustainable textile innovation
As consumers demand more eco-friendly products, denim is being held to higher environmental standards. To meet this challenge, Hyosung has developed many customized sustainable textile solutions that it will present to the denim community during Kingpins Amsterdam, April 12-13, at Sugar City, stand 42.
According to Hyosung, it’s important to provide the value chain with a complete offering of textile solutions when it comes to sustainability as the apparel industry has not quite decided which sustainable path it wants to follow – whether it’s recycled, bio-based, recyclable – or something else coming along on the horizon.
“While the industry is deciding which sustainable route to go, we are in a very strong position in that we can offer solutions across many of these categories, said Simon Whitmarsh-Knight, Hyosung Global Marketing Director – Textiles. “We are looking forward to joining the wonderful community at Kingpins Amsterdam and sharing all we can do to help them with their sustainable denim needs.”
At Kingpins, Hyosung will focus on the following sustainable denim solutions:
creora® bio-based elastane – for jeans made with renewable resources
In 2022, Hyosung was the first global developer to commercial bio-based elastane into the apparel market. Both USDA and SGS certified, creora® bio-based elastane, is made with 30 per cent renewable resources – and according to a recent third-party life cycle assessment (LCA), the manufacture of creora® bio-based elastane reduces water use by 50 per cent compared to the production of regular elastane. Hyosung will offer creora® bio-based elastane made with 70 per cent renewable resources the second half of this year.
creora® regen elastane – for jeans made with 100% recycled materials
Hyosung’s 3rd party-certified creora® regen spandex made of 100% reclaimed waste, is the missing puzzle piece that allows denim brands to claim their jeans are fully made from recycled materials.
creora® 3D Max elastane – for recyclable jeans
As circularity is top of mind, denim brands and retailers are closely monitoring separation technologies and recyclable materials. For example, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Jeans Redesign project is helping denim brands and mills with guidelines to make products that are durable, traceable, recyclable, and made with safe materials and processes. According to the Jeans Redesign’s guidelines, only under 2% of synthetic fibers is a denim fabric is allowed for a garment to be recycled. Hyosung’s creora® 3D Max elastane uniquely enables denim brands to design and develop jeans that align with these guidelines as the fiber delivers high-performance stretch and recovery with a very small portion of elastane content allowing the garment to be recycled.
“Overtime, we hope the industry will decide one sustainable path, but until then, we believe offering our customers a range of solutions is the way to go,” said Whitmarsh-Knight.