At its recent editions of Texworld USA and Apparel Sourcing, exhibitors showcased new bio-based sources for fibers that help the industry to move the industry closer to circularity.
Texworld USA’s Innovation Spotlight showcased new innovations in bio-synthetics, smart textiles, and circular design solutions. The Re:Source Library offered sustainable textile sourcing and supply chain consulting where established fibers and fabrics evolved to meet the demands of circular and sustainable design needs. Participants in the spotlight included Dr. Luke Haverhal, CEO of Natural Fiber Welding; Mike Savarie, sustainability enterprise catalyst at Hemp Black; Daniel Mota Pinto, assistant director at Scoop, and Ericka Gutierrez, manager of business development and marketing for North America at Lenzing Group.
The show also focused on the origin of raw materials which for most companies includes pre- and post-consumer textile waste, particularly cotton, such as Lenzing’s Refibra technology by Tencel, which involves upcycling cotton scraps from garment production, and Natural Fiber Welding’s processing of recycled cotton yarn for reuse and additive products.
Other materials in the showcase included Brrr’s embedded technology, which uses recycled polymers like post-consumer polyester chips and post-consumer nylon resin to spin recycled polyester and nylon yarns. Scoop’s Musgo was also featured, which incorporates optical fibers for wearable technology.
Similar biomaterials in textiles include Piñatex, a company based in the Philippines that is using pineapple leaf fibers to make its materials, and Italian firm Orange Fiber, which is using orange peels to make a cellulose-based fiber and materials.
