CovationBio introduces bicomponent stretch fiber

July 27, 2026  |  EcoNote

Covation Biomaterials LLC (CovationBio®) has introduced Sorona® elasterell-p fiber. Made with partially plant-based Sorona® polymer, it’s the first U.S. produced bicomponent stretch fiber offered by CovationBio. Sorona® elasterell-p fiber is now commercially available through regional distribu…
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European partners establish textile recycling business

July 27, 2026  |  EcoNote

Recycling Powerhouse Ltd. was established this July to industrialize, standardize and scale textile recycling. Based in Switzerland, the venture will operate a franchise-driven business model that enables the production of high-quality, certified recycled yarns.
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Growing color through bacterial pigmentation 

July 13, 2026  |  EcoNote

As the textile industry faces increasing scrutiny over the environmental costs of dyeing and finishing, New York, N.Y.-based design studio OXMAN explores whether color can be cultivated rather than applied. The latest textile research of the studio, “Vigils,” investigates a process in which pigm…
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Supply chain company for post-consumer textiles is launched

June 22, 2026  |  EcoNote

Claras Materials LLC, Charlotte, N.C., has launched as a specialized supply chain company focused on post-consumer textile raw materials for the global chemical recycling and fiber-to-fiber industries. The company said it was created to address a key challenge facing the textile recycling sector: se…
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Monomaterial shoes can be recycled – into new shoes

June 8, 2026  |  EcoNote

One of the biggest environmental challenges with modern running shoes is that they are made from many different materials, which helps to produce high-performance shoes, but it also makes them very difficult to recycle. Now, researchers at Germany's Fraunhofer group are exploring a new approach: mak…
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Bacteria-boosted “living plastic” breaks down on command

May 26, 2026  |  EcoNote

Living things degrade, die, and decompose. Even when we turn plant and animal material into furniture or clothes, the process is inevitable. Plastics, however, are practically indestructible, taking as long as 1,000 years to decompose. Now, a team of scientists from the Chinese University of Hong Ko…
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Plant-based fibers used to form a lightweight chair 

May 12, 2026  |  EcoNote

Hemp Chair, developed in Thailand by Veronica Olariu, is a seating prototype that explores structural balance through plant-based materials and lightweight construction. The project combines hemp fabric with a pineapple-leaf fiber composite to create a system where stability is achieved through coun…
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Recovering critical materials from clothing 

April 27, 2026  |  EcoNote

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Ames National Laboratory and the Critical Materials Innovation (CMI) Hub announced the launch of a new collaboration with tech giant Amazon to advance technologies that recover and recycle critical materials, aimed at driving materials circularity and improvin…
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