From Old Clothes To Extract "New" Materials, The New Generation Of Old Clothes Recycling Technology Nucycl First Commercial Hand In Hand With Adidas.

Evrnu, a sustainable fiber company, has developed a new NuCycl technology for the old clothing recycling technology, and has used the technology to support the British designer Stella McCartney to design a 100% recyclable limited edition Hoodie Infinite Hoodie for the German sporting goods giant Adidas (Adidas).

Infinite Hoodie is the first commercial application of NuCycl technology. According to Evrnu co founder and chief executive officer, Stacy Flynn, NuCycl technology "essentially turns old clothes into new high quality raw materials". By extracting the molecular structure blocks of original fibers, it creates new fibers repeatedly, thereby prolonging the life cycle of textile materials. The Infinite Hoodie is made of 40% NuCycl new yarn and 60% recycled cotton processed by NuCycl technology, using a complex jacquard knitted fabric.

Stacy Flynn said this is a new attempt to solve the increasingly serious waste problem in the fashion industry. It is estimated that as many as 92 million tons of textile waste are produced every year, and this figure is likely to increase by 60% in ten years. Stacy Flynn said: "our goal is to turn clothing waste into new fibers and eliminate scrap in the supply chain."

Now recycling cotton is not a novelty. American casual wear brands such as Madewell have old clothes recycling items, but they will only continue to donate their waste clothes to Habitat for Humanity or other recycling organizations. Finally, fibers will be used as insulation materials for houses. In terms of current technology, it is quite challenging to remake old fabrics into solid new yarns and remake them. The mechanical recovery and comminution process of textiles will weaken their fiber strength.

Evrnu's technology uses chemical processes to solve the industry's problems. Evrnu pulps the clothing waste into a pulp, then liquefied it, and then squeezes it out of a machine similar to that of a 3D printer to form new yarns. Stacy Flynn said: "we can not only recover these resources from landfills or incinerators, but also create materials with higher performance than the original ones."

Evrnu was founded in 2014. The company itself does not produce fabrics, but cooperates with the brand to develop customized fabrics, and then authorizes its technology to the garment factory. Evrnu has been working with big brands over the past few years to use its technology to develop prototype products. The new cooperation with Adidas will first provide 50 Infinite Hoodie for athletes, laying the foundation for large-scale commercial development of NuCycl technology in the future. Although Evrnu is unable to determine when the brand specific products will be opened to the mass market, Stacy Flynn says it hopes to "no longer make prototype products" in 2019.

The traditional fashion industry is facing a severe test. Excessive cotton planting has led to a shortage of water resources. Evrnu is one of the few start-ups who are committed to the development of new materials and recycling of waste clothing. Similar start-ups include Spinnova, Renewcell, Ambercycle, Worn Again and so on.

Stacy Flynn believes that although the fashion industry should form a closed loop of sustainable development theoretically, the traditional clothing production mode can not be replaced because of the fast growing market demand. Sustainable recycling fiber provides a new possibility for the future development of the fashion industry. It may be able to fill the resource shortage caused by over exploitation, and also respond to the strong desire of consumers for sustainable development.