Step by step, the main elastane producers have launched recycled versions of the high stretch yarn. Despite a higher price tag, and limited availability, demand is said to be growing. They are all, for now, made from post-industrial waste from their own production lines. 

Korean fibre producer Hyosung introduced a recycled version of its creora elastane in early 2020 and is the only elastane manufacturer to offer a yarn made from 100% recycled content. “100% recycled is the gold standard,” says Mike Simko, Hyosung global marketing director for textiles. “It is also the best solution,” he says, as reducing the proportion of recycled content would lessen its environmental benefit. However, it is available in limited quantities as elastane production generates little waste, he says. A typical spandex production line will have a high yield (on average 96%), and very little waste. The company claims that every ton of creora regen elastane produced avoids the extractraction of 1.8 tonnes of non-renewable petroleum-based raw materials from the earth.

Expanding on its sustainable fibre offering, Hyosung is close to launching a partially bio-based creora elastane that would be made from 30% bio-sourced content from dent corn. This proportion makes it a “drop-in solution for mills, and it is indistinguishable from conventional spandex,” says Mr Simko. 

Back in 2014, a bio-based Lycra yarn was launched by Invista (the owner of the brand at the time). It met with limited success compared to the Lycra T400 stretch yarn that is partially biobased (18%). The Lycra Company now offers this reference with 50% recycled content, its “green” components making up two-thirds of its composition. 

The Lycra Company introduced its own recycled elastane, Lycra Ecomade, in October 2019. It is GRS-certified and contains a minimum of 20% recycled elastane. “Our manufacturing process generates very little waste, less than 1% is burned or goes to landfill,” says Jean Hegedus, the company’s head of sustainability. “Our goal is to bring that percentage down to zero, as generating waste is not sustainable.” The very challenging prospect of extracting Lycra from used clothing to spin the material into new yarn is part of the company’s Planet Agenda, but it is a long shot. To date, the general consensus is that only 1% of used clothing is recycled into new fibres for apparel end-uses. 

It is nonetheless a key development priority, says Ms Hegedus. “Essentially, we are working on three fronts. The first priority is to identify those recyclers that accept garments with Lycra fibre today.  Depending on the recycling technology, and ultimate application for the recycled fibres, fabrics with up to 30% Lycra fibre can be recycled. The second priority is to develop applications for the Lycra fibre that is left after fibre separation, both within and outside of apparel; and the third, longer-term development is to find ways to re-spin the Lycra fibre extracted from garments so it can be used in apparel again. This poses a significant technical challenge but one that we believe is key to closing the loop.”

Tolerance in sizing

Until recently, stretch yarns have been used to make slim fit jeans move with the body, but added elasticity may also be useful to simplify sizing, a feature that is emerging as a solution for high returns in e-commerce. J Brand, Fast Retailing’s premium denim label, has just launched Limitless Stretch, a new super stretch fabric that “embraces curves” and “stretches twice its size”, the company says. 

Addressing this market need, The Lycra Company’s Lycra Myfit programme is a polymer and fibre technology endowed with a specific stretch and recovery profile designed for bottoms. It is said to offer 20% - 30% more recovery than the former Lycra Soft. “It is a hybrid Lycra fibre, it behaves differently if you stretch it 20% or 50%,” said Geoffrey Hietpas, technical director at The Lycra Company, in a webinar dedicated to Lycra in bottoms. “This type of Lycra is ideally suited to e-commerce as one size will fit more people and it is also a smart solution for persons who are in between two sizes,” Arnaud Ruffin, brand and retail manager for The Lycra Company in Europe, tells Inside Denim. 

Looking forward 

Research into novel sustainable stretch solutions is under way at Tandem Repeat, an R&D company that won a Global Change Award in 2018. It is working on developing a ‘self-healing’ coating technology inspired by squid genes that could be an alternative to elastane, the company states. 

European funded research programme Ecolastane may also have a solution for a plant-based stretch fibre. A multi-company research team investigated the possibility of making synthetic fibres from pine tree needles, or to be specific, what is known as ‘lignocellulosic biomass’. When the project closed in 2018, it validated the possibility of producing a 70% biobased elastane (polyurethane polyurea polymer) from this renewable resource. The process could also be used to make a 100% biobased polyester fibre. 

Looking forward, fashion trends may also impact the need for elasticity as wider and looser fits gain traction. Some mills are taking note. “Rigid denims are making a comeback, but also 99% cotton/1% elastane denims,” Hassaan Zafar, R&D manager for Pakistan-based Master Textile Mills, tells Inside Denim.

In its latest report on denim trends, market data research firm Edited finds that the assortment of women’s skinny jeans has dropped from 48% in 2018 to 38% in 2019. A similar trend is seen in men’s styles, that made up 35% of men’s jeans retailing across the US and UK markets in 2018 and represented 29% of retailers’ jeans assortments in 2019. Covid-19 lockdowns may have contributed to a rise in SKU sell out of women’s stretch jeans by 23% year-on-year, the company says. 

This signals that the comfort of elasticity remains popular and will not go out of style soon. “Demand for stretch will always exist, as consumers want the performance and comfort it provides all day long,” points out Francesca Polato, Berto marketing manager. 

Stretch denim fabrics will arguably continue to dominate the market as brands and consumers alike may not want to give up the added value elasticity offers. The new fibres with lighter environmental footprints may in fact make them even more popular among the sustainability minded. Whether biobased or recycled, in elastane or in polyester, they are a sign of progress, by any stretch of the imagination.