The fashion industry has a massive carbon footprint, partly because of all the inputs required to produce fabric. But inside a lab in San Leandro, California, a startup uses enzymes to “eat” carbon emissions and turn them into cellulose, which it’s then using to make textiles that are carbon-negative.
“Our process mimics how trees work: trees breathe in CO2 and use enzymes—proteins that help reactions happen—to convert the CO2 into strong carbon polymers in the trunk and leaves called cellulose,” says Neeka Mashouf, cofounder and CEO of the startup, called Rubi. Inside industrial reactors, the company does basically the same thing, creating cellulose polymers that can be spun into yarn.
The yarn can be made into lyocell, a fabric that’s usually made by dissolving wood or bamboo. “We make the same high-quality lyocell without the carbon-, water-, and land-intensive manufacturing methods that are based on deforestation and significant energy-intensive processing,” Mashouf says.
Typically, lyocell has a carbon footprint of 5 to 10 kilograms (or about 11 to 22 pounds) of CO2 equivalent for each kilogram of fabric, she says. The new process ultimately sequesters carbon instead, meaning that even when other factors are considered—like the energy that’s used to make and transport it—it goes beyond shrinking emissions to zero and has a positive benefit. The company’s cellulose can also be made into yarn for viscose or rayon, other fibers that are usually made from wood pulp.
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