From Farm to Fashion: How The LYCRA Company is Embracing Renewable Materials
The fashion industry and its supply chain are significant contributors to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually, with fibre production and consumption having substantial impacts on this. Elastane, an essential ingredient in a wide range of textiles and apparel, is made primarily from petroleum products that are a finite resource and require extraction and refinement.
Bio-derived materials, which are substances made from biological sources, such as plants, animals, or microbes, are increasingly being sourced to produce a wide range of products, including plastics, chemicals, fuels, and textiles. Since they are derived from renewable resources, bio-derived materials have the potential to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly, reducing reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels and helping to lower GHG emissions.
The LYCRA Company is collaborating with Qore®, a joint venture between Cargill, experts in agricultural fermentation, and HELM, a German chemical company, to bring to market the world’s first large-scale commercial production of bio-derived LYCRA® fibre made with QIRA®. A key ingredient in LYCRA® fibre is BDO (1,4-butanediol), which is produced from fossil-based resources. QIRA® is the brand name for a next-generation BDO from Qore® that is made from dent corn, an annually renewable resource.
By using dent corn as the feedstock, The LYCRA Company will soon replace a finite resource traditionally used to make LYCRA® fibre, reducing its greenhouse gas emissions while still providing the same excellent stretch and shape retention consumers have come to expect from its iconic LYCRA® fibre.
Soon nearly 70 percent of the LYCRA® fibre content will be derived from annually renewable feedstock, thus potentially reducing the carbon footprint of LYCRA® fibre by up to 44 percent, per data from a screening life cycle assessment (LCA).*
This renewable offering will be commercially available later this year. To learn more, visit
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