of flowy lyocell pants, shorts, and a blouse that are 50 percent recycled fiber, and polyester garments that are 43 percent recycled fiber, all from Circ’s pilot plant.
“We're not using any funky catalysts—solvents or anything like that—that are polluting,” Majeranowski says. “Our LCAs show us very much on the plus side of things from a greenhouse gas impact. But then also, we're zero discharge.” So, no toxic emissions from a smokestack, and no nasty, microfiber-filled wastewater. All the water is purified and recycled back through the plant.
But the question of economics looms over even the greenest technologies. “All of those processes are non-scalable and definitely not economic,” Dell says. Rademan agrees, at least with the "not economic" part. “The process that they all go through is expensive,” she says. “If I produce one of these raw component chemicals that goes eventually to polyester, I then need to … sell that onto someone who's willing to buy it at the price that I'm currently selling it. That price is probably too expensive.” She wants to see brands commit to buying polyester made from recycled polyester and pay more for it.
The answer to that question is a bit hazy. One pair of startup founders were silent for a very uncomfortable minute when I asked about the traceability of their product. Carbios’ CEO, Emmanuel Ladent, wrote in an email: “This is obviously an important point and we are looking into several options, but cannot communicate on these at this stage.” Other startups talk about partnering with trustworthy suppliers, and putting tracers in once the fiber is constructed.
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