Specialty Fabrics Review July 2023 - 38

[ MARKETS ] ADVANCED TEXTILES
of new polymers and materials that
are compatible with current and future
recycling technologies to ensure that
we are always designing for circularity. "
What will replace
polyester fibers?
With the packaging industry gobbling
up the rPET supply and fiber-to-fiber
circular manufacturing still in its
infancy, there's a need for alternative
polymers that are bio-based, recyclable
and/or biodegradable.
Sorona®, a textile fiber also known
 Kintra's polybutylene succinate (PBS)
biodegrades in industrial composting
environments. Photo: Kintra Fibers
as Triexta or PTT (polytrimethylene
terephthalate), was developed by
DuPont more than 20 years ago.
Partially bio-based, the polymer is
made from 37% 1,3-propanediol
(PDO) created from plant sugars via
fermentation. In June 2022, DuPont
Biomaterials was acquired by the
Huafon Group and is now known as
CovationBio™. Sorona is one of the
commercial brands that transitioned to
the new organization. The top uses for
Sorona fiber are carpeting and apparel,
and Sorona can be mechanically
recycled as part of the PET recycling
stream, according to Mike Saltzberg,
CEO for CovationBio.
" When designers are choosing
 Bio-based polyethylene furanoate
(PEF) is being developed at Avantium.
Photo: Avantium
materials or fibers, they look carefully
at the technical performance as well
as the sustainability profiles of each
product. Sorona fibers offer vastly
different technical performance
than fibers made from PET, either
virgin or rPET. Sorona is softer, can
be used to create durable stretch or
shape memory fabrics, and is more
inherently stain resistant than PET, "
says Saltzberg.
" As brands look for solutions to
bring out more sustainable offerings,
we think both rPET and Sorona can
play a significant role, sometimes
in the same fabric, " he adds. " One
38 SPECIALTY FABRICS REVIEW / July 2023
of the most exciting applications of
Sorona that has been developed is a
bicomponent stretch fiber made from
a combination of Sorona and rPET.
This recyclable fiber provides excellent
stretch and recovery and can be used
to replace non-recyclable spandex in
many stretch fabrics. "
Fully bio-based. The development
of fully bio-based polyethylene
furanoate (PEF), a fiber that offers
comparable properties to PET, is being
led by Avantium, a Dutch technology
company working in renewable
chemistry. The company's YXY® plantto-plastics
technology catalytically
converts plant-based sugars into
furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), the
key building block for PEF. These
yarns can be produced on existing
spinning and texturing lines. It is also
medium-term degradable and can be
recycled in existing PET waste streams.
Along with five global textile
companies and brands, Avantium has
formed the PEF Textile Community,
which is currently developing textiles
for a number of applications. The
company recently signed an offtake
agreement with Danish textile
maker Kvadrat to create PEF-based
textiles for both commercial and
residential interiors. A commercial
plant for PEF is under construction
in the Netherlands, with large-scale
production planned for 2024.
Food versus fiber. Another type
of bio-based and compostable plastic,
polybutylene succinate (PBS), is being
developed by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based
Kintra Fibers Inc. using monomers
created from the fermentation of sugars
derived from wheat, corn and the like.
The company has produced yarn for
apparel brand Pangaia and has pilot
programs with other brand partners.
PBS is tunable and can be spun on
the same equipment used for PET.
Specialty Fabrics Review July 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Specialty Fabrics Review July 2023
