DE-LYCRA/DCC
9.5.2024 03:01:32 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
The LYCRA Company, a global leader in developing innovative, sustainable solutions for the apparel and personal care industries, announced today that it has signed a letter of intent with Dairen Chemical Corporation (DCC) to convert QIRA®—the next generation of 1,4 butanediol (BDO)—into low-impact PTMEG, the main ingredient in patented bio-derived LYCRA® fiber. Dairen will be the first company in the world to mass produce this low-impact bio-PTMEG at scale.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240509462079/en/
Left to Right: Steve Stewart, chief brand and innovation officer, The LYCRA Company, and Shean-Tung Lin, Chairman, Dairen Chemical Corporation (DCC), sign a letter of intent for DCC to convert QIRA® into low-impact PTMEG for bio-derived LYCRA® fiber. (Photo: Business Wire)
In September 2022, The LYCRA Company and Qore® announced they were joining forces to enable the production of bio-derived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA®. Now, DCC joins this distinctive collaboration, converting QIRA® into bio-PTMEG. This unique PTMEG will make up the renewable portion of LYCRA® fiber, accounting for 70% of the fiber’s content. It is being made exclusively for The LYCRA Company to its stringent specifications. With its low-impact allyl alcohol process, DCC has pioneered a technology that creates the lowest-impact PTMEG available, which is cleaner and has a lower carbon footprint than product produced with natural gas or coal.1
The LYCRA Company, Qore®, and DCC are united by a shared commitment to R&D, health and safety, sustainability, and conservation. To mark this event, Steve Stewart, The LYCRA Company’s chief brand and innovation officer, presented DCC with a Green Partner Award. The award acknowledges DCC’s ongoing sustainability efforts and commitment to creating low-impact products.
“Our collaboration heralds a brand-new era of environmentally conscious production activities, fueled by our shared commitment to reducing carbon footprints and developing world-leading eco-friendly solutions,” said DCC’s chairman, Lin Shean-Tung. “Sustainability is not merely a trend, but an imperative for the future of our planet. We are honored to receive the Green Partner Award and embark on this journey alongside The LYCRA Company, advancing sustainable practices in the industry.”
Available in early 2025, patented bio-derived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA® will be the world’s first renewable spandex available on a large scale. By using annually renewable dent corn, an initial screening calculation indicates that the carbon footprint of LYCRA® fiber potentially could be reduced by up to 44 percent2 compared to LYCRA® fiber without bio-derived materials. Further, the fiber will offer equivalent performance to traditional LYCRA® fiber, making it an easy replacement for mills, brands and retailers.
“We are excited to collaborate with DCC to bring bio-derived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA® to market and realize our shared vision for a more sustainable value chain,” said Stewart. “Given the combination of using bio-derived input from corn, plus conversion at a state-of-the-art QORE® facility run on wind power, and transformation to PTMEG using DCC’s low-impact process, we anticipate the potential for additional reductions as we go into production.”
For many years, Dairen has demonstrated its sustainability efforts in raw materials management, waste elimination, process enhancement, innovations, and more. It has also achieved significantly lower carbon emissions in its product offerings than its competition.
“Sustainability has evolved from fulfilling requirements to being a competitive advantage,” said Simon Chuang, vice president of global sourcing and procurement at The LYCRA Company. “We’re committed to selecting, promoting, and expanding our business with supply partners like DCC who embrace and drive meaningful sustainability efforts.”
Visit lycra.com/qira to learn more about bio-derived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA®.
1Estimate from Cradle-to-Gate Screening PCF for a representative DAIREN PTMEG manufacturing facility, year 2023, prepared by DNV Business Assurance Co., Ltd.
2Estimate from Cradle-to-Gate Screening LCA for a representative LYCRA® fiber manufacturing facility, June 2022, prepared by Ramboll Americas Engineering Solutions, Inc.
About The LYCRA Company
The LYCRA Company innovates and produces fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries and owns the leading consumer brands: LYCRA®, LYCRA HyFit®, LYCRA® T400®, COOLMAX®, THERMOLITE®, ELASPAN®, SUPPLEX® and TACTEL®. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., The LYCRA Company is recognized worldwide for its sustainable products, technical expertise, and marketing support. The LYCRA Company focuses on adding value to its customers’ products by developing unique innovations designed to meet the consumer’s need for comfort and lasting performance. For more information, visit lycra.com.
About Qore® LLC
Formed through a joint venture by Cargill and HELM AG, Qore® helps leading brands replace fossil-based chemistries with bio-derived intermediates. At the heart of the joint venture is the production of QIRA®, the next-generation bio-derived 1,4-butanediol (BDO). Made biologically through the fermentation of plant-based sugars, QIRA® can save up to 86% of greenhouse gas emissions when replacing today’s widely used chemical intermediates made from traditional fossil sources. Bio-derived QIRA® can be used the same way as its fossil counterpart but with significantly better environmental performance. Qore® and QIRA® are trademarks of Qore® LLC. For more information and inquiries visit https://www.myqira.com/.
About Dairen Chemical Corporation (DCC)
Founded in 1979, DCC is a leading maker of acetyl and allyl chemicals. The company board has been chaired by Mr. Lin Shean-Tung since June 2019. DCC operates seven production sites in Asia and serves customers in more than one hundred countries. Major products include Vinyl Acetate Monomer, Vinyl Acetate Ethylene (VAE) Emulsion, VAE Redispersible Powder, Allyl Alcohol, 1,4-Butanediol and PTMEG. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, its productions sites are in Taiwan, China, Singapore and Malaysia. Under the leadership of Chairman Lin, DCC is expanding its international activities and enhancing its global presence.
LYCRA® is a trademark of The LYCRA Company.
QIRA® is a trademark of Qore®.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240509462079/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
The Smarter E Europe Sends a Strong Message: the Energy Future Is Renewable17.6.2026 16:09:00 CEST | Press release
Europe is once again facing an energy crisis, another reminder of just how vulnerable our fossil fuel-based energy system is. Yet the current crisis is also accelerating the energy transition and the adoption of electromobility. The objective is to reduce dependence on imports of fossil-based raw materials and thereby increase resilience. This year, The smarter E Europe, Europe’s largest alliance of exhibitions for the energy industry, is sending a strong and clear message with its new special exhibit Renewables 24/7: Renewable energies ensure a secure, reliable and affordable energy supply every day, around the clock. This message is scientifically supported by a new study from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, which will be presented on June 23. From June 23–25, around 2,800 exhibitors will present groundbreaking, market-ready and cross-system technologies for a 24/7 renewable energy supply at Messe München. More than 100,000 visitors are expected. This press rel
Xsolla Sponsors Game Camp France, Reinforcing Commitment to France’s Dynamic Games Ecosystem17.6.2026 15:47:00 CEST | Press release
Game Camp France supports regional developer communities across the French games ecosystem Xsolla, a global video game commerce company that helps developers launch, grow, and monetize their games, today announced its sponsorship of Game Camp France this 18-19 June 2026. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260617351463/en/ Graphic: Xsolla The French video game industry is widely recognized as one of the most vibrant in Europe, with revenue reaching approximately €5.8 billion in 2025. Rather than a centralized market, it is a patchwork of regional scenes, each with its own communities, creative identity, and business dynamics. Game Camp France plays a key role in bringing these diverse voices together, creating a centralized space for collaboration, exchange, and growth. By sponsoring Game Camp France, Xsolla is investing directly in the local ecosystem and the developers who power it. Xsolla will be on-site to eng
The Estée Lauder Companies and Jo Malone London Launch Experience That Turns Visual Taste into a Personalized Fragrance Wardrobe, exclusively on Pinterest17.6.2026 15:26:00 CEST | Press release
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) and Jo Malone London today announced the launch of Scent Scanner, a first-of-its-kind experience available exclusively on Pinterest and rolling out in the US and France. The experience translates the visual preferences people have expressed across their Pinterest boards into personalized Jo Malone London fragrance recommendations. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260617962807/en/ Building on the success of Jo Malone London's AI Scent Advisor, introduced in 2025, Scent Scanner offers a new way for consumers to find their personalized scent, shifting the starting point from words to images. While the AI Scent Advisor invited consumers to describe the scent they were seeking, Scent Scanner reads visual inspiration – imagery, color palettes, textures, destinations, rituals and aesthetics – to suggest fragrances suited to each individual. The custom Pinterest experience bri
Azul Addresses the Java Runtime Security Blind Spot Autonomous AI Can Now Exploit17.6.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Launches free JVM vulnerability risk assessment to give enterprises estate visibility before AI threat actors find the gaps Azul, the trusted leader in enterprise Java for today’s AI and cloud-first world, today launched a free JVM vulnerability risk assessment to address the blind spot that autonomous AI exploitation tools are increasingly able to find. With mean time to exploit (MTTE) collapsing from months to days or hours, the unmanaged Java estate has become an urgent enterprise security vulnerability. Azul’s assessment gives DevOps and SecOps teams complete visibility into the hidden risks embedded in the runtime of their Java estate before threat actors get there first, and is designed to complement the broader security, licensing and compliance solutions and services delivered by Azul’s trusted partners. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260617352753/en/ Azul's JVM Vulnerability Risk Assessment dashboard
Fortegra Strengthens Actuarial Leadership with Appointment of Anthony Katz as SVP, Reserving17.6.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
The Fortegra Group, Inc., a global specialty insurer, today announced the appointment of Anthony Katz as Senior Vice President, Reserving. Mr. Katz will lead Fortegra’s team of professional actuaries, with responsibility for reserving, credit insurance, statistical reporting, and key initiatives including IFRS 17. “Anthony brings more than 30 years of actuarial expertise and a genuine commitment to building the capabilities our distribution partners depend on,” said Rick Kahlbaugh, Chief Executive Officer at Fortegra. “His background across reserving, actuarial transformation, and international markets will be instrumental as we continue to support our distribution partners.” A credentialed actuary holding FCAS, FSA, and MAAA designations, Mr. Katz brings more than 30 years of experience across reserving, pricing, and actuarial transformation. He has held senior leadership roles at ToaRe, Everest Re, Arch Insurance, Ernst & Young, and ACE, and most recently served as an independent con
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom