Sportswear company lululemon Athletica and Australian environmental technology startup Samsara Eco have announced the production of a lululemon Swiftly Tech long-sleeve top using enzymatically recycled nylon 6.6, marking the first product to be created using this form of circular solution for the difficulties in recycling materials.
Nylon 6.6 is one of the most widely used plastics in the textile industry for the production of fabrics for clothing, sportswear and outerwear, and represents a substantial portion of the materials used by lululemon, with benefits including durability and resistance, which also make it difficult to recycle.
Launched in 2021, Samsara Eco uses enzyme technology to recycle plastic, using enzymes to transform complex plastics back into their original chemical building blocks, allowing them to be reused to produce new virgin quality plastics without relying on fossil fuels.
The company launched a partnership with lululemon last year as its first textile partner, and worked with lululemon to pioneer a new technology to extract nylon 6,6 from end-of-life textiles. According to the companies, the manufacturing process of the new shirt is completed in a few hours and at low temperatures.
Calling the announcement a “giant leap into the future of sustainable fashion and circularity, Samsara Eco CEO and founder Paul Riley said the process “has the potential to save tens of millions of tons of CO2 entering our environment every year.”
Riley added:
Until now, nylon 6.6 textile-textile was not recyclable. The samples we create with lululemon represent a global breakthrough for the future of textile waste. Our work with lululemon shows the potential to give clothes infinite life.”
Nylon is the largest material purchased by lululemon by weight, representing 37% of the materials used in its products in 2021. As part of its sustainable materials goals, lululemon has set goals to launch alternative nylon solutions by 2025 and to achieve content 100 % renewable or recycled. nylon for its products by 2030.
Yogendra Dandapure, vice president of raw materials innovation at lululemon, said:
“The best lululemon Swiftly samples go beyond material innovation – they represent the exciting possibilities and impact that can be achieved through cross-industry collaboration and partnership. This advancement not only marks a turning point for sustainable innovation in clothing, but also for all industries looking to shift to more circular models. We look forward to continuing to work with Samsara Eco to help scale this new technology in the coming months and years.”
