On September 28, 2022, The LYCRA Company, a global developer of innovative fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries, announced that it had signed an agreement with Qore® to enable the world’s first large-scale commercial production of bio-based spandex, using bio-based BDO as one of its main ingredients. Recently, Lycra announced that, under their cooperation, the world’s first large-scale commercial production of bio-derived spandex has been achieved, “a transformative, more sustainable spandex is about to emerge”. Field corn will become the main raw material for bio-based spandex.

Bio-based synthetic fiber uses natural plant or crop as a raw material to produce high-purity monomers through chemical methods such as genetic engineering, fermentation, and purification, and then undergo polymerization to obtain high-molecular-weight polymers, which are then processed by appropriate spinning processes. “Made in China 2025” and “The 13th ‘Five-Year’ Plan for Synthetic Fiber Industry” both propose high-performance fibers and bio-based chemical fibers as key directions for the development of the textile industry.

Chinese manufacturers have made significant progress in the layout of bio-based spandex. In 2022, Huafon Group announced that it had acquired DuPont’s biomaterials business and technologies. The acquired products are used to replace some of the existing raw materials, produce higher bio-based content polyurethanes, and further promote research and development of downstream bio-based spandex products. LDZ New Aoshen Spandex has developed spandex with a bio-based content of over 70%, and Bangtai’s bio-based melt-spun spandex has passed the USDA Bio-based Product Certification. In August 2022, Hyosung TNC announced that its bio-based spandex product, “creora bio-based”, with a bio-based content of 30%, had obtained eco-product certification from Standard Global Services (SGS), becoming the world’s first commercial case of bio-based spandex.

Renewable substitution from the source reduces the carbon footprint of bio-based fibers relative to traditional fossil-based products, and plays an important role in promoting the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. The development of bio-based spandex has driven the demand for bio-based improvements in upstream sectors such as BDO-PTMEG, pushing the industry chain to shift gears towards sustainable change.