Sorona® Revive has outstanding shape recovery
Sorona® is now part of CovationBio
Designing the future means designing sustainably. Long at the forefront of bio-based options, Sorona®, and its sister brands Susterra® and Zemea®, are now part of the newly formed Covation Biomaterials. This leading global company offering bio-based solutions launched in June as an independent business following the acquisition of DuPont Biomaterials by the Huafon Group.
“We are an important gateway into a more circular economy. Sustainable supply chains must begin with sustainable materials and our science allows our customers to end their overreliance on petroleum,” said CovationBio CEO Michael Saltzberg. “By collaborating with forward-thinking value chain partners and brands globally, we will continue to push the boundaries of innovation and sustainability to deliver high-performance biomaterials at scale.”
Combining decades of world-class science and engineering expertise with new investment and manufacturing capabilities, CovationBio is creating the sustainable building blocks for customers to make innovative and high-performance, bio-based products accessible globally. The new company builds on a more than 20-year legacy and successful suite of products currently available in the market, including:
- Sorona®, a partially bio-based polymer that answers the global call for sustainably sourced fabrics for apparel
- Susterra®, a 100% plant-based, high-performance building block for footwear, outdoor apparel, and more
- Zemea®, a plant-based, biodegradable material available for personal care, home care, and more
Bio-PDO is the base ingredient for Sorona®, Susterra®, and Zemea®. “The entire process for making Bio-PDO is carried out in the U.S.,” says Sorona® Global Brand and Communications Leader Alexa Raab. “Our team sources a component of domestic industrial dent corn. Then, they utilize a fermentation technique similar to brewing beer in order to make the Bio-PDO. That’s the bio-based ingredient for fabrics made with Sorona®, and there are more than 43 million garments made with Sorona® worldwide. It’s a step in the right direction, and we know there’s so much more that can be done.”
Partially plant-based Sorona® is an environmentally friendly, high-performance option for athletic apparel
Demand is quickly growing for Sorona® fabrics tested and certified under the brand’s Common Thread Fabric Certification process. Five fabric types are currently available including Sorona® Agile, Aura, Luxe, Profile, and Revive. Mills in the brand’s newly launched Preferred Mill Network are certified for carrying this range of fabrics. Each fabric type is scientifically tested for a minimum percentage of Sorona® content and a range of performance characteristics including comfort stretch, warmth, breathability, softness, wrinkle resistance, UV and heat resistance, shape recovery, long-lasting durability, vibrant color retention, stain resistance, and more. The Preferred Mill Network is available to any apparel brand in need of samples and sourcing of fabrics.
“Sorona® is extremely versatile,” says Raab. “We created the Common Thread Fabric Certification Program and our Preferred Mill Network, which now boasts more than 350 mills, to make a sustainable choice reliable and simple. At CovationBio we want bio-based products to be accessible to everyone.”
