Teijin develops highly stretchable fibers from plants and renewable raw material

Cleaner, stronger performance, sustainable development is one of Teijin's long-term development goals. Teijin's long-term goal has made tremendous progress as Teijin Furuiite, a subsidiary of Teijin, has successfully developed environmentally friendly and excellently extended side by side composite fiber "SOLOTEX ECO-Hybrid" through the use of plant raw materials and recycled raw materials.


R&D background

Of course, "SOLOTEX ECO-Hybrid" was not just born for Teijin's goal, but also because in recent years, the apparel market's demand for soft, malleable and more environmentally friendly fabrics has been increasing.

Based on this premise, the market demand for Teijin's original fiber products with high ductility "SOLOTEX®" is also increasing. This fiber is made of 40% plant raw materials, polyethylene terephthalate (PTT) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In terms of environmental protection, ductility, and flexibility, it can better meet the needs of the apparel market.

However, the side-to-side composite fibers of PTT and recycled PET used in "SOLOTEX®" have the problem of change in crimp structure and a slight deficiency in environmental protection, making it still not perfect.

Therefore, on the one hand, in order to solve the problem of changing the curling structure and increase the environmental protection, we have improved the accumulated polymer pasting technology, using plant PTT raw materials and chemically recycled PET raw materials "SOLOTEX ECO- "Hybrid" came into being.

On the other hand, based on the idea of super environmental protection. The use of renewable raw materials instead of PET, and the development of a new generation of "SOLOTEX®", all of which are environmentally friendly materials, are also in progress.


Product advantages

The new "SOLOTEX ECO-Hybrid" combines polymer stabilization technology and yarn manufacturing technology to give the material excellent functionality. It is mainly reflected in stable stretchability, excellent colorability, and can meet the needs of 33-330 nits in yarn specifications, and has broad industrial adaptability.

In the main performance, "SOLOTEX ECO-Hybrid" and petrochemical materials, almost no shortcomings. But the difference is that "SOLOTEX ECO-Hybrid" uses some PTT obtained from plant processing, and recycled PET raw materials from chemical recycling of waste polyester fibers. In terms of environmental protection, "SOLOTEX ECO-Hybrid" is better, and sustainable recycling of waste materials as resources is a fiber material more suitable for future development.


Future goals

Teijin's initial plan is that the fabric made from the fiber will be promoted and sold as a fabric for fashion clothing for fall/winter 2020. With this as a starting point, we will expand its applications in sportswear and employee uniforms in the future, and actively strive to expand its sales performance. It is expected to complete the sales target of 500 million yen in 2020 and reach the target of sales of 1.5 billion in 2022.