DE-THE-LYCRA-COMPANY
29.9.2022 02:01:44 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
The LYCRA Company,a global leader in developing innovative fiber and technology solutions for the textile and apparel industry, today announced it has entered into an agreement with Qore® to enable the world’s first large-scale commercial production of bio-derived spandex using QIRA®, the next generation 1,4-butanediol (BDO), as one of its main ingredients. This will result in 70% of the LYCRA® fiber content being derived from annually renewable feedstock. This change could potentially reduce the carbon footprint of LYCRA® fiber by up to 44%* versus equivalent product made from fossil-based resources, while maintaining the same high-quality performance parameters of traditional LYCRA® fiber.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220928005020/en/
The LYCRA Company signs an agreement with Qore® LLC to enable large-scale production of bio-derived spandex. Pictured – Julien Born, CEO of The LYCRA Company (left), and Jon Veldhouse, CEO of Qore® LLC (right), at The LYCRA Company’s headquarters in Wilmington, DE, USA. (Photo: Business Wire)
QIRA® will be produced at Cargill’s biotechnology campus and corn refining operation in Eddyville, Iowa. The facility, which is currently being built, will commence operations in 2024. The first renewable LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA® will be produced at The LYCRA Company’s Tuas, Singapore manufacturing site in 2024. The LYCRA Company is currently seeking commitments with brand and retail customers who are pursuing bio-derived solutions for their apparel.
“As part of our sustainability goals, we are committed to delivering products that support a more circular economy while helping our apparel and personal care customers reduce their footprint,” said Julien Born, CEO of The LYCRA Company. “We are especially pleased to collaborate with Qore®, a company that shares our vision for innovative, sustainable solutions. Their expertise in operating fermentation processes and understanding of the chemical value chains makes them the ideal partner to help develop a bio-derived LYCRA® fiber at commercial scale.”
“We are proud to partner with The LYCRA Company on bringing this sustainable material solution to the market. This collaboration demonstrates that QIRA® directly replaces conventional BDO and thus significantly improves the fiber’s sustainability profile,” said Jon Veldhouse, CEO of Qore®. “QIRA® is an innovative platform chemical that can be used in various applications across industries.”
The first generation of renewable LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA® will use feedstock from field corn grown by Iowa farmers and will enable a significant reduction in CO2 footprint. In addition to replacing a finite resource with an annually renewable one, another benefit for mills, brands and retailers is that there is no change in fiber performance, eliminating the need for any re-engineering of fabrics, patterns, or processes. Equivalent performance was demonstrated in 2014 when the world’s first bio-derived spandex was launched under the LYCRA® brand. The LYCRA Company has since been granted a patent for the process used to make renewable elastane from bio-derived BDO.
For additional information on renewable LYCRA® fiber, The LYCRA Company and Qore® invite interested parties to contact The LYCRA Company sales representatives.
*Estimate from Cradle-to-Gate Screening LCA for a representative LYCRA® fiber manufacturing facility, June 2022, prepared by Ramboll US Consulting, Inc.
About The LYCRA Company
The LYCRA Company innovates and produces fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, The LYCRA Company is recognized worldwide for its innovative products, technical expertise, sustainable solutions, and unmatched marketing support. The LYCRA Company owns leading consumer and trade brands: LYCRA®, LYCRA HyFit®, LYCRA® T400®, COOLMAX®, THERMOLITE®, ELASPAN®, SUPPLEX®, and TACTEL®. The LYCRA Company’s legacy stretches back to 1958 with the invention of the original spandex yarn, LYCRA® fiber. Today, 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 www.thelycracompany.com.
LYCRA® is a trademark of The LYCRA Company.
About Qore® LLC
Formed through a joint venture by Cargill and HELM, Qore® will help 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 93% 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.
For more information, visit www.myqira.com.
Qore® and QIRA® are trademarks of Qore® LLC.
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/20220928005020/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
ThetaRay Gamifies Financial Defense at Money20/20 Europe with a Compliance Twist on “Where’s Waldo”2.6.2026 09:30:00 CEST | Press release
With “Spot The Money Mule”, ThetaRay unites Agentic AI and public education to disrupt criminal recruitment; pushing for an ecosystem-wide stand against illicit finance. ThetaRay, a leader in AI infrastructure for financial crime compliance, today unveiledSpot The Money Mule at Money20/20 Europe. The high-speed online game is a compliance twist on "Where’s Waldo" for the AI age, designed to bridge the gap between complex banking infrastructure and the public’s role in stopping global crime. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260602629234/en/ The game challenges players to find a money mule hidden in plain sight across five buzzing everyday scenes, from the morning rush at an airport to the vibrant rows of a Dutch Tulip Festival. “In the AI age, the most dangerous threats are those that blend perfectly into the speed of our digital lives,” said Garima Chaudhary, VP Financial Crime & Compliance AI at ThetaRay. “In
The Open Group Launches the Open Footprint® Standard, Edition 1.0 to Streamline Scope 1, 2, and 3 Emissions Management2.6.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release
The Open Group, the vendor-neutral technology and standards organization, today announced the release of the Open Footprint® Standard, Edition 1.0, that will help organizations streamline scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions reporting. The new standard is the first open emissions data model to address all three scopes, providing a comprehensive framework that enables organizations to collect and standardize data from their value chain and report across multiple jurisdictions. “There is an urgent need to streamline emissions data management and reduce the manual effort required to capture data within supply chains, perform data conversion, and report out to various regulators,” said Steve Nunn, President and CEO of The Open Group. “The Open Footprint Standard removes friction and lowers cost, helping organizations identify emissions reduction opportunities.” Key features of the model include: Standardized emissions data definitions and relationships Simplified emissions data sharing and interope
Thredd Renews and Expands Partnership with Caxton2.6.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release
Five-year renewal and strategic expansion strengthens travel, corporate, and parent-child card innovation Thredd, the AI-first issuer processing platform, today announced a five-year renewal and strategic programme expansion with Caxton, the leading payments solutions provider, reinforcing Thredd’s role as the company’s primary issuer-processor across consumer and corporate cards. Caxton, a leading UK payments provider, has partnered with Thredd since 2020 to power its multi-currency prepaid travel and expense cards. Customers can hold up to 15 currencies on a single card. As part of the renewed agreement, Thredd will bring Caxton’s parent-child card programme, nimbl, onto the Thredd platform. All nimbl customers will be re-carded as the programme is launched using Thredd’s infrastructure, with completion targeted before the end of the year. nimbl is a financial education-focused debit card designed for children aged 6–16, enabling parents to manage allowances and teach money managemen
Medscape Brings AI to the Hematology Frontline at EHA 20262.6.2026 08:00:00 CEST | Press release
Landmark symposium to equip clinicians with practical, ethical AI frameworks, chaired by a lead author of Europe's ESMO EBAI and ELCAP oncology guidelines. Medscape Education will launch Future-Ready Hematologists: Practical and Ethical Use of AI in Hematology and Oncology at EHA 2026 on June 11, where leading experts will convene to explore responsible AI in one of medicine's most complex, rapidly evolving specialties. Registration is free for all EHA delegates. Reserve your seat here. The session is chaired by Prof. Jakob N. Kather, MD, MSc, Else Kroener Fresenius Center for Digital Health, Technical University Dresden, and NCT, University Hospital Heidelberg. He is joined by Prof. Chan Cheah, MBBS, DMSc, Consultant Hematologist, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, Australia; and Prof. Matthew Lunning, DO, FACP, Chief of Hematology and Assistant Vice Chancellor of Research, University of Nebraska Medical Center. Hematology moves faster than any clinician can track alone. AI can clo
Signaloid Announces Preview of New ASIC Targeted at Physical AI and Robotics Applications2.6.2026 06:00:00 CEST | Press release
Signaloid previews a new ASIC purpose-built for physical AI and robotics workloads.The chip, taped out with TSMC in partnership with IC-Link by imec and Cadence, is projected to deliver up to 1000× better performance-per-watt in key physical AI workloads. Signaloid (https://signaloid.com), a computing platform company providing hardware and binary-translation-based acceleration of AI, robotics, aerospace, and quantitative finance workloads, today announced the tapeout and preliminary specifications documents for its C0-ASIC. Delivery of engineering samples to the first customer is due in Q3 2026 and additional FPGA-based systems implementing the ASIC’s design are under discussion for deployment in the UK and Switzerland later in 2026. The C0-ASIC was targeted specifically at energy-efficient physical AI workloads. The UK Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) will take delivery of systems based on the ASIC for use in next-generation AI workloads such as second order methods. “Th
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