Textile innovation company Evrnu has launched NuCycl r-lyocell, the world’s first high-performance, fully recyclable material made entirely from cotton waste. In what the company calls a “huge breakthrough” for the industry, Evrnu is sourcing discarded cotton to create better fibers that can replace up to 90% of common textile materials.
Through this technology, Evrnu says it is forging a pathway for tens of millions of tons of textile waste to re-enter the value chain each year.
Evrnu asserts NuCycl meets or exceeds the performance quality of virgin cellulosic and plastic-based textiles, including nylon and polyester. In addition to its strength and comfort properties, NuCycl can also be recycled up to 10 times.
Changing manufacturing
Evrnu says it has modified traditional lyocell manufacturing methods to process textile wastes, where cotton is broken down and used to generate pristine new fibers. By refining its technology to work within the current manufacturing infrastructure, the company is building toward rapid scaling capabilities.
Evrnu is constructing a new facility in the southeast US that will process about 17,000 metric tons of pulp and 2,000 tons of fiber every year. “We have at least a 20-year push to innovate around climate change to make up for the past 100 years of collateral industrial damage,” says Stacy Flynn, Co-Founder & CEO of Evrnu. “Our team and partners are dedicated and aligned to outperforming and scaling textile recycling solutions to bring our industry into balance with natural systems.”
New T-shirt line
NuCycl is the first commercial product for Evrnu, which has raised $31 million in funding to date. To introduce the fiber, Evrnu is offering premium T-shirts made with 100% Nucycl by designer Carlos Campos, and is planning additional commercial partnerships in the coming months.
“For the first time in the history of the textile industry we can now outperform 90% of the market using what is currently perceived as waste,” says Christopher Stanev, CTO of Evrnu. “Since we founded Evrnu, we have proven our technologies not only work but are scalable using existing infrastructure; imagine what our industry will look like when we are done.”
