Toray behind 100% plant-based PET in Patagonia jacket
On launching its SugarDown Hoody in the Japanese market, outdoor brand Patagonia has identified local fibre and textile developer Toray as the supplier of the 800-fill-power jacket’s 100% plant-derived polyester outer shell and lining.
Toray has long produced polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polyester fibres using renewable mono ethylene glycol, but until joining hands with US company Virent it had struggled with securing suitable plant-based raw material for another important part of the PET equation: terephthalic acid.
According to Tokyo-based media, Virent’s biobased compound is manufactured via a patented process from non-genetically modified sugarcane grown in Louisiana. The resulting 100% plant-derived PET is not yet ready for large-scale production, reports added, although Toray expects it will be able to mass produce this decade.
Image: Patagonia.
