Hyosung, considered the world’s largest spandex manufacturer, has released the results of a new Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) comparing the environmental performance of its 100 percent recycled Creora Regen spandex to its virgin Creora spandex.
The study, conducted by third-party certifier Networks Y, a Korean LCA consultancy, concluded that Creora Regen spandex reduces carbon dioxide production by approximately 67 percent compared to Hyosung’s Creora Spandex in the production of 1 kilogram of fiber.
For the study, Networks Y performed a carbon footprint calculation–the amount of CO2 emitted from the entire life cycle of a product–of both fibers from pre-manufacturing to the manufacturing stage.
“We know that our Creora Regen is unique because we only produce 100 percent recycled content and our LCA helps quantify why that is important,” Mike Simko, Hyosung global marketing director-textiles, said.
Since the launch of Hyosung’s Creora Regen spandex in January last year, the company has produced an amount of fiber to offset the number of CO2 emissions equivalent to driving 1,000 times around the globe. Similarly, the production of Creora Regen has the greenhouse gas (GHG) absorption impact of enough mature pine trees to cover San Francisco’s Presidio, the world’s largest national park in an urban area spanning nearly 1,500 acres.
Hyosung’s Creora Regen spandex is Global Recycling Standard, Higg MSI and Oeko-Tex certified. The company is in the process of obtaining a material health certificate under the Cradle-to-Cradle Certified Product Standard.
Seoul-based Hyosung, in addition to its Creora fibers, manufactures Mipan nylon and specialty polyester.
The company recently teamed up with a municipal government to release a new nylon textile made of abandoned fishing nets. In addition, Hyosung, Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority and fashion brand Pleatsmama signed a Memorandum of Understanding to undertake the “Regen Ocean” project to recycle transparent PET bottles coming from ships that enter and leave the port. The project was designed to prevent ocean pollution stemming from PET bottles used on ships while they are at sea.