Day 0: Hyosung’s Simon Whitmarsh-Knight on elastane’s next chapter

The Day 0 event is agnostic, but to keep it more affordable, Hyosung has stepped in. There have been some great advancements in #BetterPractice, but the focus now needs to be on getting the majority to change. As Hyosung TNC is the largest elastane supplier in the world by market share, it represents where the work needs to be focused.

Simon Whitmarsh-Knight has progressed through the industry, especially on the supply chain side, having worked at several brands from the biggest (like Invista) to the start-ups (like HDWool) – but always in the Active industry. He has returned to Hyosung with a broader understanding of the responsibilities of the Fashion and Textiles industry, as well as a separate thread he has personally worked on to develop additional skills. This love of learning is exemplified by having recently completed a Master’s in Coaching and Mentoring and by embarking on a part-time PhD in Elite Performance.

Although Hyosung TNC is a massive corporation with sustainable solutions in elastane, nylon and polyester, Simon has stuck to the Performance Textiles channels and especially the more responsible developments and their communication. Elastane was considered to be the original contaminant that stopped textile-to-textile recycling if it was above 5 percent of the garment composition – but the world has moved on from the last Millennium, so the conversation centered on four areas in particular:

• Recycling technology can cope with more mixed materials
• The potential for elastane to be recycled to produce rEA
• Biopolymer elastanes are being developed to cut out oil ingredients
• Other types of polyester that stretch, beyond PET, are being developed too.

Most of this drive stems from the fact that the whole sustainability question isn’t easy to answer – if it were, everybody would be following the direction set out. Textiles have a great carbon footprint, but it is just a single digit of the overall carbon consumption – if we are to address the global crisis challenge more effectively, then concentrating on the Construction, Heating and Transport industries will have a greater effect. Concrete is the second most common material on the planet, after water: its carbon footprint is massive by comparison, but it is seen as a fundamental part of modern society, whilst apparel is still regarded as a discretionary purchase. The individual footprint of any item of clothing is really quite low – the biggest hassle is the number of textiles that we get through. This is also counter-balanced by the positive effect that both buying and wearing apparel has on us all. We might not openly express it, but we all take pride in our appearance and the positive endorphins associated spread to other areas of our lives.

Fashion has become like food in that there are faster versions of both, leading to greater waste of the resource. On your phone, you can order a new top in about the same speed as it takes for your take-away meal to be cooked; the delivery options for both have progressed in quickness recently. As both appear to have reduced in price this Millennium, there is greater ease in putting the two into the rubbish system as the easy option for disposal. The figures on how much apparel is made and never worn are poor; the figures on how it is often cheaper to throw garments away than repair, alter their size or even recondition them – there is no drive to reduce consumption. The change of cuts and sizes encourages repeat purchase when the buyer realizes that aspects of fit have improved, especially as they fear that the pattern will change in the next season and thus might not be such comfortable wear.

So many aspects to juggle in the whole picture of the footprints associated with clothing and the impact it has on the planet, which gives the Hyosung TNC team the drive to work to improve.

This is balanced by knowing that so much around textiles is still needing to be iterated as there is much potential to improve in many fields, and it is only by developing these possibilities – plus seeing what gets taken up by the majority (as that will mark the tipping point to best), that the industry wants. Hence, having the role of both Marketing and Sustainability lead sees him in the best place to initiate the change.

Elastane has been around for less than a century, and it has made clothing fit so much better – a comfort benefit that is only appreciated when it is removed and we go back to old ways of constructing garments.

Simon has also been a supporter of Day 0 since the idea was first considered, as he knows that improving the level of knowledge is key to influencing the aspects of design at the start of the footprint connected to apparel. If we can get a better starting point, we will get a better result. Hence, he will take part in a Fireside Chat with The OIC’s columnist Charles Ross during the lunch break on Oct. 28.

As to the details of the four potential channels being developed to provide better elastane:

The textile-to-textile (T2T) recycling technology has advanced faster than most in the sports and outdoor industries have understood. Systems like those from Worn Again and Loopamid have changed the field – but, as for elastane specifically, there are encouraging initial results, but more work needs to be done at scale. The area that needs to take a greater step forward is still sorting so that the right process can be applied to the correct garments.

The next step is to use recycled elastane to minimize waste. The biggest challenge in this area is separating elastane from other fibers, but there are positive signs as Hyosung TNC works closely with leading global T2T technologies to investigate the potential for rEA.

Biopolymers are ingredients that do not use oil as a starting point. The more well-known versions are PLA (polylactic acid) from sugarcane waste, where the food part has been removed. Hyosung TNC has licensed technology from sustainable materials leader Geno to produce Bio-BDO (butanediol) from sugar cane. This is opening a whole new ingredient channel. The next stage will be to manufacture the Bio-BDO at the start of next year, then follow on immediately to produce bio-based elastane at its integrated plant in Vietnam.

PTT (polytrimethylene terephthalate) has become a mid-range fiber offering more than a mechanical stretch, but less power than added elastane. The positive news is that at product end-of-life, the product can go into the polyester recycling stream without adding contamination.

Another point of difference Simon champions is listening to his downstream customers to ensure the best service is offered. This is one of the driving forces of having him on stage at Day 0 (and even more sessions in the Circularity Zone and on the main Expert Talks stage when the show opens the following days). Simon is all too aware of how some suppliers play the all-important you-must-listen-to-us directives. He values hearing from those who want to feed up the chain. It is this position that has seen Simon be invited onto the Focus Topic panel which will pass comment on both the keynote that Charles Ross has just done, but also the text of the contents of the Focus Topic itself (compiled by Anna Schuster) – the aim of the Focus Topic is to bring detailed attention to a particular subject by offering both opinion (the keynote), education (the text) and comment (the panel). He will be joined on the panel by some of the greats of the industry: the EOG’s Katy Stevens, Textile Exchange’s Adam Gardiner and Decypher’s Shivan Gusain – Simon’s role will be to bring the practical aspect to life.

The lasting impression from chatting with Simon is how much he wants to improve the overall reputation of the textiles industry by developing new practices that take on greater responsibilities, and to make the process of using elastane easier by overcoming the hurdles that have crept into the system.

It is only fitting to leave the final word to Simon himself about how he regards the future: “The recycling issue is inextricably linked to the other two main challenges for the industry – regulations and digitalization. In our volatile, uncertain world, these issues are too complex for any one company to solve on its own. Hence, the opportunity for our industry is to collaborate to make a material change.”

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