Ambercycle, Hyosung TNC partner to manufacture circular textiles

Hyosung TNC, a South Korea-based sustainable textile developer, has partnered with material science company Ambercycle, based in Los Angeles, to introduce textile-to-textile circular polyester into its supply chains in South Korea.

The companies say their collaboration advances the shared vision of a circular textile ecosystem that repurposes end-of-life products into high-performing fibers for brands looking to curb their environmental impact.

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The partnership will tap into Hyosung’s 58 years of advanced fiber manufacturing capabilities and nearly two decades of experience producing sustainable textiles to support the integration of Ambercycle’s circular polyester material, Cycora, into brand supply chains.

“Our collaboration with Ambercycle is another important step we are taking to help our customers meet their sustainability goals and scale solutions that both present and future generations can enjoy,” Hyosung CEO Chi Hyung Kim says. “We’re impressed with Cycora for its quality, but also for its potential to divert tons of textile waste from landfills and incinerators and reduce the extraction of raw materials used in the production of virgin polyester.”

Ambercycle says it is rapidly scaling Cycora, a regenerated polyester chip that meets the spinnability standards of virgin materials and outperforms other recycled materials, according to testing by the European Center for Innovative Textiles (CETI). The company’s molecular regeneration technology will add to a growing portfolio of circular solutions manufactured by Hyosung, which has developed the recycled fiber brand Regen.

Hyosung claims it was the first company in the world to develop Regen nylon from discarded fishing nets in 2007 and achieved another milestone by becoming the first company to globally receive the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certification for its Regen polyester. The company also says it was the first to introduce RCS-certified 100 percent-recycled Regen spandex in 2020, and USDA, SGS-certified biobased spandex made partly from renewable resources in 2021.

“The fashion industry is searching for accessible, high-quality circular solutions,” Ambercycle CEO Shay Sethi says. “This partnership is a testament to that demand and an important step to ramp up the production of Cycora and make it easier for brands to source regenerated materials for their fashion lines. We’re closely aligned with Hyosung on both our high-quality standards and our commitment to circularity, so we are thrilled to have them as a partner in our commercialization journey.”