Extracting "new" materials from old clothes, a new generation of old clothes recycling technology NuCycl

Sustainable fiber company Evrnu has developed a new commercial old clothes recycling technology NuCycl, which is used to support British designer brand Stella McCartney to design a new 100% recyclable limited edition for the German sporting goods giant adidas (Adidas). Hoodie Infinite Hoodie.

Infinite Hoodie is the first commercial application of NuCycl technology. According to Stacy Flynn Evrnu co-founder and CEO of introduction, NuCycl technology "is essentially old clothes into a new high-quality raw materials", by extracting virgin fiber molecular structure of the block, repeat create new fiber to extend the textile The life cycle of the material. Infinite Hoodie is made from a blend of 40% new NuCycl yarn and 60% recycled cotton processed with NuCycl technology, using a sophisticated jacquard knit fabric .

Stacy Flynn said this is a new attempt to address the growing waste problem in the fashion industry. It is estimated that as many as 92 million tons of textile waste are produced each year globally, which may increase by 60% in a decade. Stacy Flynn said: "Our goal is to convert garment waste into new fibers and eliminate waste in the supply chain."

Now recycling cotton is nothing new. American casual wear brand Madewell has old clothes recycling projects, but they will only continue to donate used clothes to Habitat for Humanity or other recycling organizations. Finally, the fiber will be used as insulation for the house. material. As far as current technology is concerned, it is quite challenging to re-form old fabrics into sturdy new yarns and re-form them. The mechanical recycling and comminution process of textiles will weaken the fiber strength.

Evrnu's technology uses chemical processes to solve industry problems. The slurried waste Evrnu clothing, liquefied, and then from a similar 3D printer extrusion machine to form a new yarn. Stacy Flynn said: "We can not only recover these resources from landfills or incinerators, but also create materials with higher performance than the original form."

Founded in 2014, Evrnu does not produce fabrics by itself. Instead, it works with brands to develop custom fabrics and then licenses their technology to garment factories. Evrnu has been working with big brands over the past few years to develop prototypes using its technology. This new cooperation with Adidas will first provide 50 Infinite Hoodie for athletes, laying the foundation for the large-scale commercialization of NuCycl technology in the future. Although Evrnu is not sure when the product with each brand will be open to the mass market, Stacy Flynn said that it hopes to "no longer just make prototypes" in 2019.

The traditional fashion industry is facing a severe test. Excessive intensive cotton planting leads to water shortages, and landfilling waste clothes produces a lot of greenhouse gases. Evrnu is one of the few startups working on new material development and recycling of used clothing. Similar start-ups include Spinnova, Renewcell, Ambercycle, and Worn Again.

Stacy Flynn believes that although in theory, the fashion industry should form a closed-loop operation of sustainable development, due to the rapidly growing market demand, the traditional clothing production model can not be replaced. Sustainable recycled fiber offers new possibilities for the future development of the fashion industry, perhaps filling the current shortage of resources caused by over-exploitation, and responding to consumers' strong desire for sustainable development.