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Nonwovens/​Converting

Waste fibre route to new Lycra insulation

Four-step process to the finished product.

1st February 2022

Innovation in Textiles
 |  Wilmington, DE, USA

Sports/​Outdoor, Sustainable

Thermolite EcoMade fibre for insulation battings made from 100% textile waste are being introduced by The Lycra Company, headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.

The materials are produced by recycling textile waste from cutting room floors that would otherwise have been sent to a landfill or incinerated, and transforming it into high performance fibres for insulation. Once fabric scraps are collected from garment makers, they go through a four-step process before becoming a finished product, involving depolymerization and refining, chip manufacture, fibre formation and batting and insulation production.

“Our new textile waste fibre can be used in unique batting constructions to deliver outstanding warming performance,” said Arnaud Ruffin, vice president, brands and retail at The Lycra Company. “We are initially promoting the fibre in two versions – both thin-loft and mid-loft battings, each made with 85% or more recycled fibres, including 50% Thermolite fibre made from recycled PET bottles and 35% made from the new textile waste product. Both deliver durability while warmth per unit weight and other insulation characteristics meet the industry’s highest expectations.”

www.thelycracompany.com

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