Textile Insight

one million tonnes of annual Spinnova fiber production capacity in the next 10-12 years. In February, Spinnova communicated plans to build its first commercial factory in Finland to meet the growing demand for sustainable materials from global textile brands. The factory producing Spinnova fiber is expected to begin production at the end of 2022, along with Spinnova's strategic partner Suzano, the world's largest cellulose producer. TNF, with its annual sales of $9.2 billion for the financial year ended March 2021, looks to contribute significantly to Spinnova's market entry and future scale-ability. "This is a great opportunity for us to continue pushing the limits of our material together with The North Face. Our goal is to set a new standard for the industry in sustain- ability and high performance," says Spinnova's CEO and co-founder Janne Poranen. l PrAna Provides Eco-Friendly Packaging prAna announced that the company has achieved 100 percent plastic-free packaging, which coincides with the one-year anniversary of prAna's Responsible Pack- aging Movement (RPM), that, according to prAna's release, "inspires and creates industry-wide change around responsible packaging." "Finding a solution to protect our more sensitive products, like swimsuits and outerwear, was our final hurdle in the journey towards plastic-free packaging," said prAna's director of sustainability, Rachel K. Lincoln. "It's true that some products need protection and imple- menting the glassine bag was a great solution." Glassine is a pulp-based paper product that retains some of the durability benefits of plastic. The rest of the brand's sustainable packaging strategy involved recycled materials and other creative packaging solutions. PrAna reports that over the past year, its Responsible Packaging Movement has brought in over 80 brands across multiple industries. (They are aiming for 100 partners by the end of 2021.) Notably, GSI, HOKA, and LifeStraw have joined in.The brand also pledges to eliminate ancient and endangered forest fibers in 2022 and to eliminate virgin forest fibers in 2025. And by 2028, it will produce 100 percent of its apparel in Fair Trade Certified factories. l textileinsight.com September/October 2021 ~ Textile Insight • 12 prAna's Responsible Packaging Movement includes 80 brands. "Finding a solution to protect our more sensitive products, like swimsuits and outerwear, was our final hurdle in the journey towards plastic-free packaging," said." Rachel K. Lincoln, director of sustainability, prAna. A s brands and consumers become more proactive in seeking out eco-friendly products, Hyosung continues to provide textile solutions by furthering its sustainable programs and product offerings. When developing sustainable technologies and programs, partnerships can provide benefits for companies and brands involved, along with local communities being served. Recent examples are Hyosung's recycling initiatives based in South Korea. To establish a new resource circulation system, Hyosung partnered with the Ministry of Environment, Jeju Provincial Government, and fashion brand, Pleatsmama, to produce recycled polyester made from discarded PET bottles from Jeju Island. Hyosung followed by expanding its domestic PET collection and recycling initiative to include the city of Seoul to produce regen Seoul polyester. Addressing ocean plastic waste, Hyosung expanded its recycling initiative to include the waters surrounding South Korea where it collects discarded PET bottles from cruise ships to develop regen Ocean polyester. Hyosung recently 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. "The conversation around sustainability began with brands wanting something sustainable, and back then the easiest thing to do was to implement recycled product into their lines," said Mike Simko, Hyosung Global Marketing Director-Textiles. "Conversations around sustainability have matured with companies setting ambitious sustainability objectives and publishing them for all to see." Hyosung published the results of a LCA comparing the environmental performance of its creora® regen spandex to its virgin creora® spandex, which concluded creora® regen spandex reduces carbon dioxide production by approximately 67 percent compared to its creora® spandex in the production of 1 kg. "Sustainability is a journey. The industry has a deeper understanding of the impact that the textile industry has on the environment, and more importantly, there is a desire to make improvements," said Simko. ADVERTISEMENT Hyosung Continues to Innovate with Eco-friendly Partnerships and Products Hyosung's sustainability collection will be on display at the Functional Fabric Fair in Portland, November 17-18, stand 606.

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