MATERIAL LIBRARY

The FSC certificated wood pulp turned into eco-friendly yarns for making the product sustainable.

Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

Rayon was the first manufactured man-made fibre created to be an affordable imitation of silk, wool, cotton, and linen. It is made from wood pulp or cotton linter and blends well with other fibres to create fabrics that feel soft and silky. Due to the different manufacturing processes and properties of the finished product, there are many varieties of rayon, including Modal, Lyocell, Cupro and Viscose( usually called Rayon Viscose). Because of the competitive price, rayon became popular in the early ’20s.

However, it has been argued that wood pulp is treated with chemicals like Sodium hydroxide and SO2 during the traditional manufacturing process for Rayon or Viscose, which is then filtered and spun into a fine thread. The process is highly polluting and releases many toxic chemicals into the air and waterways around the production. Additionally, excessive logging for raw materials such as wood pulp has destroyed forests and habitats.

Now the world-renowned Rayon Viscose manufacturer, TENCEL™, has launched a new series called ECOVERO™ fibres derived from certified renewable wood sources and produced under an eco-responsible production process by meeting high environmental standards.

This production is lower the water impact up to 50% and 50% CO2 emissions to air, which helps combat climate change. Therefore, more and more brands adopt Rayon Viscose as their primary material to implement sustainable impacts, such as Allbirds, GANNI, and inooknit.

Left: A Piece of the dress made of blended ECOVERO™ Viscose with Wholegarment^® Knitting technique.
Right: A Pair of Mary Janes shoes made of blended ECOVERO™ Viscose by inooknit.

Reference
2021. Textilepedia. Fashionary International Ltd.
https://www.ecovero.com/zh_hant/
https://www.inooknit.com/

Written by Anna