Biotechnology company LanzaTech, based in Stokie, Illinois, USA, has partnered with lululemon athletica, an athletic apparel company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, to create the world’s first yarn and fabric using recycled carbon emissions that would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere as pollution.
LanzaTech has developed a solution to produce ethanol from waste carbon sources and is working with partners India Glycols Limited (IGL) and Taiwan’s Far Eastern New Century (FENC) to convert the ethanol to polyester.
Recycling carbon is a fundamental element of the circular economy, which will keep fossil carbon in the ground, reducing pollution and fossil fuel usage when used to make polyester. With a lower carbon footprint, this innovation could transform lululemon’s products and the apparel industry.
FENC Topgreen Bio3-PET fibre made from LanzaTech’s ethanol is described as a waste-gas-based polyester with not only the same appearance but also the same properties and functionality as virgin polyester.
Industrial emissions, such as those from a steel mill, would otherwise be combusted and emitted as GHGs and particulate emissions. By capturing these and reusing the carbon to make yarn, the finished garments not only have a lower carbon footprint but ensure community pollution levels are reduced.
If these chemicals are made into new products such as textiles, once these products reach the end of their useful life and become waste, they can be gasified and fermented by LanzaTech’s process. In this sense, the pathway promotes circularity, keeping the carbon in the material cycle.
According to innovationintextiles.com; insider.com. Source of photo: internet
