May 09, 2024 (MarketLine via COMTEX) --
In an exclusive chat the CEO and scientist behind CiCLO Technology, an additive that can make polyester and nylon fibres biodegradable, tells Just Style the end of non-biodegradable polyester is a "no-brainer" but both education and the right regulations will help speed innovations to market.
Andrea Ferris' initial idea of making "better polyester" dates back to 2012. She admits for some brands CiCLO might still be a new name but it's been on the market since 2017 and in retail products since 2020.
Not one to sit on her laurels Ferris and her R&D team are constantly on the hunt for new ways to reduce the amount of textiles polluting natural environments, such as the ocean.
CiCLO's upcoming innovations CiCLO's biodegradable replacement for Spandex, for instance, is still in R&D but she tells us it could launch as soon as next year (2025).
She shares: "Solutions we bring to market need to be platform solutions. We want to be a solution that brands and retailers can use for all of their synthetics. Brands and retailers only have so much bandwidth and there's so much work that goes into vetting and developing products with a new technology so being a platform solution is important."
Ferris admits that when talking about scalability and volumes driving down cost is a major factor for bringing something new to market. Spandex is a small portion of the textile market, so her key question is always: "How can we bring that to market in a very cost-effective way?"
We'll also see CiCLO technology entering the non-woven market soon, with Ferris revealing: "We're very far along in that development so weaEUR(TM)ll see products in the market by the end of this year".
Plus, she reveals: "We have some things in the works where weaEUR(TM)re adding CiCLO to recycled polyesters."
Despite the recent bankruptcy of textile-to-textile recycling start-up Renewcell sending shockwaves through the apparel sector Ferris remains confident that fashion brands and retailers always want to do better when it comes to sustainability.
However, she highlighted that anything good takes time: "The industry shouldnaEUR(TM)t be discouraged by things not happening super fast. In any industry with new technologies there will be some that donaEUR(TM)t survive for one reason or another."
She was also quick to note that combining affordability, availability and trust can help take solutions to scale.
Arguably the secret behind CiCLO's success is the fact the company has always ensured it has the global infrastructure and enough volume to make it available worldwide.
Ferris explains any fashion brand or fabric mill can access her technology and she's spent many years educating on the industry side so the apparel sector understands how it works and how to implement it.
This is why she's able to say with confidence the extinction of non-biodegradable polyester is realistic and achievable within the next 10 years.
Ferris also points out she's spoken to hundreds of fashion brands by this point who say themselves it's "a no brainer".
Plus, she asserts the weakness of synthetics is its lack of durability, but with CiCLO technology it is "super durable but ultimately biodegradable".
Ferris believes cross-industry support, partnerships and collaboration are what's needed to reduce textile waste and pollution and she sees her technology as complementary to others on the market so she hopes to introduce partnerships with other start-ups and innovations moving forward.
How regulations, laws can reduce apparel pollutionCiCLO technology prides itself on following regulations and the company looked to the Federal Trade Commission's Green Guides, which first launched in 1992 and were last updated in 2012 to see how to market its product.
As Ferris explains: "The guides do allow for the claim of biodegradable, however we found individual US states had their own legislations which could be very different to the federal guidelines."
In fact, CiCLO sprung out of California which had the strictest requirements of all: "Any product sold to the state of California may not be labelled as biodegradable unless it is a commercially compostable material so from the start weaEUR(TM)ve been very careful to ensure our claims are compliant with the most strict regulations around the world."
As a result, she continues: "Our claims are all about the reduction of microplastic pollution in the environment and we're clear about the benefits to the end consumer."
She points out the Green Guides are being updated either this year or next year and will help marketers ensure any type of claim on an end product offers clear information.
She believes the update will be extremely beneficial for fashion brands as it will give them a consistent way to talk about a product's benefits without misleading or confusing consumers.
When communicating green claims to fashion shoppers, Ferris believes it's important to keep claims simple and truthful.
CiCLO has comprehensive brand guidelines that talk about regulation on synthetic products, how to put the material tag inside the product and hang tags on the outside with a QR code as well as how to talk about it to an end consumer.
She says that for some consumers these can be very complex topics so she encourages brands to take advantage of hang tags with QR codes that can direct customers to websites for information on the technology's safety and how it is tested.
Ferris is very much of the view that fashion brands and retailers will support positive regulation as long as itaEUR(TM)s both pro-industry and pro-consumer.
She sees the EU's recent approval of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, for instance as a "big win" for humanArights and the environment.
And she's hopeful regulations that set requirements to prevent or mitigate potential impacts and minimise real impacts will cause a rippleAeffect far beyond the areas covered by the governing body thatAset them.
She explains: "CSDDDAcompliance will pertain to certain sized non-EU companies doing business in the EU, and the full value chains supplying companies will also need to be in compliance. Compliance drives measurement, and what can be measured can be improved."
Ferris was quick to add that California passing legislation in 2023 that requires an increase in climate disclosures from companies who "do business in the state" is also a game-changer.
She explains: "Considering that California is the fifth largest standalone economy, the EU and California laws combined must cover a huge percentage of major companies. This was a major step for theAglobal movement towards legislation that requiresArobust reporting and accountability from industry because of CaliforniaaEUR(TM)s size and impact.
"Now other states, such as Washington, are looking to pass similar laws."
Ferris also notes the outcome of the upcoming US election will have a huge impact on how the administration is organised and staffed, how much support there is or is not for regulation, reporting and other topics impacting the way companies operate.
She believes initiatives around fashion and textile sustainability will remain important regardless as support for legislation can be garnered when the proposals are drafted with reasonable requirements and meaningful incentives that areAdeveloped to be both pro-business and pro-environment.
The AmericaaEUR(TM)s Act can used as an example, she says, because it has bipartisan support by benefiting both the industry and environment, combining incentives like re-shoringAor nearshoring supply chains and building a viable infrastructure for textiles recycling.
She concludes: "It's encouraging to see an uptick in support for initiatives from both sides, as it offers hope that we will only continue to see an increase in action from not only consumers and brands but also support from a legislative level."
CiCLO's director of advanced materials Cheryl Smyre told Just Style at Texprocess Americas and Techtextil North America in May last year how the additive ingredient has 94% biodegradation in seawater after 3.7 years compared to 5% for polyester that doesnaEUR(TM)t contain the solution.
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