Hyosung has signed an MoU with the Busan metropolitan government and social venture Netspa to produce Mipan regen Ocean, a recycled nylon textile made from abandoned fishing nets.

In addition to producing Mipan regen Ocean, Hyosung is expanding investment in a depolymerization facility that will improve the purity of ingredients by removing the impurities in fishing nets. Hyosung’s goal is to produce more than 150 tons of Mipan regen Ocean per month by Q2 of 2022.

The company has also partnered with the Ministry of Environment (MOE), Jeju Provincial Government, and startup Korean-based fashion brand, Pleatsmama, to produce and launch recycled polyester made from discarded PET bottles from South Korea’s Jeju Island. Earlier this year, it launched regen Jeju, which was adopted by The North Face Korea.

Regen Jeju’s success encouraged Hyosung to expand its domestic PET collection and recycling initiative to include the city of Seoul in order to produce regen Seoul 100 per cent recycled polyester.