7 companies partner to develop sustainable polyester fiber

A consortium of seven companies headquartered across five countries has established a supply chain for more sustainable polyester fiber.

Instead of fossil fuel materials, renewable and biobased materials as well as carbon capture and utilization (CCU) will be used in the manufacturing of polyester fibers for The North Face brand in Japan, according to Finland-based energy company Neste Oyj. Consortium partners include project owner Goldwin; Mitsubishi Corp.; Chiyoda Corp.; SK Geocentric; Indorama Ventures; India Glycols; and Neste.

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Neste will provide its Neste RE product as one of the required ingredients for polyester production. The fiber produced in the project will be used by Goldwin for a part of The North Face products, including sports uniforms, this month. After that, Neste says the launch of further Goldwin products and brands will be considered.

The seven companies apply a mass balancing approach to ensure credible traceability of material streams throughout the supply chain, “and will jointly continue to proactively promote the defossilization of materials to contribute to a more sustainable society.”