Wilmington - The Lycra Company has launched Thermolite EcoMade fibre made from 100 per cent textile waste for insulation applications.

This new warming technology involves recycling textile waste from cutting room floors that would 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: 1) depolymerization and refining 2) chip manufacture 3) fibre formation and 4) batting and insulation production.

“Our new textile waste fibre can be used in unique batting constructions to deliver outstanding warming performance infused with unparalleled sustainable attributes,” said Arnaud Ruffin, vice president, brands and retail at The Lycra Company. “We are initially promoting the fibre in two versions of insulation—both thin-loft and mid-loft battings, each made with ≥ 85 per cent of recycled fibres, including ≥ 50 per cent Thermolite fibre made from recycled PET bottles and ≥ 35 per cent made from the new textile waste product. Both batting offerings deliver durability and outstanding levels of performance combined with unmatched sustainability credentials for the outdoor industry, while warmth per unit weight and other insulation characteristics meet the industry’s highest expectations.”

By using textile waste as an input to make commercial performance fibres, The Lycra Company is providing a solution to help the industry deal with its textile waste problem, as well as creating a starting point for circularity.