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to Burrows. "We didn't know if it would pan out that way until we got in there and tried different applications." e firm is also busy developing take back programs so consumers can return end-of-life product for recycling. "is is critical to the circular story," Burrows believes. Making the return process for recycling purposes easy and accessi- ble for consumers is a big challenge. "How do we make it as simple as putting something on my front porch and it gets picked up," says Burrows. "Convenience is key." When Burrows thinks back over her career in footwear, the conversation on a compostable, recyclable product for the main- stream marketplace didn't exist. "We were solving for durability, not for sustainability," Burrows comments. "I don't want to lose the criteria we created in the past around durability but now we focus on environmental impact. The great news is that there is desire and talent and passion to solve this. Let's try to speed it up." Ease of Recyclability When Alissa Baier-Lentz grew frustrated by the challenges she personally experienced in building a more sustainable supply chain, she joined forces with nano engineer Billy McCall to provide brands with materials that make no compromise between performance, price, and the planet. eir material science company, Kintra Fibers, launched in 2020, has developed a bio-based and compostable polyester that can replace traditional fossil fuel-based and non-biodegradable polyester (PET) and nylon. "I felt a responsibility to address this challenge of building a plan- et-friendly supply chain and using business as a force for doing good as a core concept," says Baier-Lentz. "This is what's needed for the planet, and is the most important work of our time." Baier-Lentz elaborates, "Textiles currently in use enable a lifestyle that is actively polluting the outdoors with chemicals and microplastics. Our chemistry is 100 percent bio-sourced and both economically and environmentally profitable." Kintra Fibers products can be designed for recyclability from the start, meeting the criteria of being bio based, compostable, with no harm to nature through use and addressing textile waste. Because of the physical and aesthetic proper- ties Kintra Fibers affords designers – strength and soness with some stretch recovery – blends can be avoided. "We could blend with other naturals, but why? It is great as 100 percent Kintra filament yarns," Baier-Lentz explains. Kintra Fibers is located at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with its own lab space and R&D facility. e company works with external part- ners for larger scale work, with pilot qualities happening currently in Europe, and potentially upcoming in the U.S. Kintra materials can run on exist- ing equipment. Mills are pleased to have access to a new innovative fiber, according to Baier-Lentz, but are attracted to bottom line results, too. "Our product reduces manu- facturing cost because it operates at lower temperatures. is helps debunk the myth that eco is always more expensive," says Baier-Lentz. She spotlights Kintra's partner- ship with Fashion for Good, an organization that serves as a hub for innovators, evaluating new mate- rials across the supply chain and networking creatives with brands. Kintra Fibers' pilot line is hum- ming, according to Baier-Lentz, and expanding to commercialization. For the founders of Kintra Fibers, the biggest surprise during the past two years has been the level of excitement from the mills. "I thought this was going to be the biggest hurdle, but getting true interest and desire to partner with us has been exciting," says Baier- Lentz. "I think the mills are feeling pressure from brands, consumers and policy makers, that if they are not keeping up, then they won't be relevant." Future of Circular Thinking "When we think of circularity overall as a strategy, the priority needs to be reducing the gener- ation of waste in the first place, by extending the life of materials, employing re-use, repair, reman- ufacturing and upcycling," states Sarah Coulter, project fellow, Accelerating Circularity. "And yet even if we rapidly scale all these strategies most of the stuff is not suitable for these applications. We need to do something with all this material other than put it in a landfill." To that end, Accelerating Circularity works with companies at different points in the supply chain to see what textile-to-textile looks like from a practical stand- point relying on four technologies based on cotton, polyester mechan- ically recycled, chemically recycled cellulosics and chemically recycled polyester to reach the broadest swath of the industry. Having recently wrapped up the develop- ment phase, next comes making t-shirts, fleece, towels and pants to meet standard-size orders – not just capsule collections. Coulter and others discussed "Circular Re-thinking: How tex- tile-to-textile recycling can make huge strides towards circularity within the textile industry" at a Texworld NY event this summer. Emily Gigot, senior sustainability manager, SanMar, shares, "As an industry we need to be pulling every lever that we have at our disposal to be reducing our overall impact. More specifically, if we drill down, now is the time for textile-to-textile recycling invest- ments, because it's becoming a supply and demand issue. On the supply side, the apparel industry is not the only industry talking about and incorporating more recycla- ble materials, and it's becoming a more competitive environment in the supply chain to get the raw material feedstock in order to make products at volume consumers are demanding. We need to focus on how we take our waste within our industry and turn that into a feed- stock, and expand the supply for new products to meet the growing demand." n Unifi's North Carolina Repreve Recycling Center, where sustainability meets performance. 40 • November/December 2022 sportstyle • sportstylemag.com DESIGN

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