Dairen Chemical Corporation Joins The LYCRA Company and Qore® in the Development of Renewable LYCRA® fiber
The LYCRA Company, a global leader in developing innovative, sustainable solutions for the apparel and personal care industries, announced today that it has signed a letter of intent with Dairen Chemical Corporation (DCC) to convert QIRA®—the next generation of 1,4 butanediol (BDO)—into low-impact PTMEG, the main ingredient in patented bio-derived LYCRA® fiber. Dairen will be the first company in the world to mass produce this low-impact bio-PTMEG at scale.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240509462079/en/
Left to Right: Steve Stewart, chief brand and innovation officer, The LYCRA Company, and Shean-Tung Lin, Chairman, Dairen Chemical Corporation (DCC), sign a letter of intent for DCC to convert QIRA® into low-impact PTMEG for bio-derived LYCRA® fiber. (Photo: Business Wire)
In September 2022, The LYCRA Company and Qore® announced they were joining forces to enable the production of bio-derived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA®. Now, DCC joins this distinctive collaboration, converting QIRA® into bio-PTMEG. This unique PTMEG will make up the renewable portion of LYCRA® fiber, accounting for 70% of the fiber’s content. It is being made exclusively for The LYCRA Company to its stringent specifications. With its low-impact allyl alcohol process, DCC has pioneered a technology that creates the lowest-impact PTMEG available, which is cleaner and has a lower carbon footprint than product produced with natural gas or coal.1
The LYCRA Company, Qore®, and DCC are united by a shared commitment to R&D, health and safety, sustainability, and conservation. To mark this event, Steve Stewart, The LYCRA Company’s chief brand and innovation officer, presented DCC with a Green Partner Award. The award acknowledges DCC’s ongoing sustainability efforts and commitment to creating low-impact products.
“Our collaboration heralds a brand-new era of environmentally conscious production activities, fueled by our shared commitment to reducing carbon footprints and developing world-leading eco-friendly solutions,” said DCC’s chairman, Lin Shean-Tung. “Sustainability is not merely a trend, but an imperative for the future of our planet. We are honored to receive the Green Partner Award and embark on this journey alongside The LYCRA Company, advancing sustainable practices in the industry.”
Available in early 2025, patented bio-derived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA® will be the world’s first renewable spandex available on a large scale. By using annually renewable dent corn, an initial screening calculation indicates that the carbon footprint of LYCRA® fiber potentially could be reduced by up to 44 percent2 compared to LYCRA® fiber without bio-derived materials. Further, the fiber will offer equivalent performance to traditional LYCRA® fiber, making it an easy replacement for mills, brands and retailers.
“We are excited to collaborate with DCC to bring bio-derived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA® to market and realize our shared vision for a more sustainable value chain,” said Stewart. “Given the combination of using bio-derived input from corn, plus conversion at a state-of-the-art QORE® facility run on wind power, and transformation to PTMEG using DCC’s low-impact process, we anticipate the potential for additional reductions as we go into production.”
For many years, Dairen has demonstrated its sustainability efforts in raw materials management, waste elimination, process enhancement, innovations, and more. It has also achieved significantly lower carbon emissions in its product offerings than its competition.
“Sustainability has evolved from fulfilling requirements to being a competitive advantage,” said Simon Chuang, vice president of global sourcing and procurement at The LYCRA Company. “We’re committed to selecting, promoting, and expanding our business with supply partners like DCC who embrace and drive meaningful sustainability efforts.”
Visit lycra.com/qira to learn more about bio-derived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA®.
1Estimate from Cradle-to-Gate Screening PCF for a representative DAIREN PTMEG manufacturing facility, year 2023, prepared by DNV Business Assurance Co., Ltd.
2Estimate from Cradle-to-Gate Screening LCA for a representative LYCRA® fiber manufacturing facility, June 2022, prepared by Ramboll Americas Engineering Solutions, Inc.
About The LYCRA Company
The LYCRA Company innovates and produces fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries and owns the leading consumer brands: LYCRA®, LYCRA HyFit®, LYCRA® T400®, COOLMAX®, THERMOLITE®, ELASPAN®, SUPPLEX® and TACTEL®. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., The LYCRA Company is recognized worldwide for its sustainable products, technical expertise, and marketing support. The LYCRA Company focuses on adding value to its customers’ products by developing unique innovations designed to meet the consumer’s need for comfort and lasting performance. For more information, visit lycra.com.
About Qore® LLC
Formed through a joint venture by Cargill and HELM AG, Qore® helps leading brands replace fossil-based chemistries with bio-derived intermediates. At the heart of the joint venture is the production of QIRA®, the next-generation bio-derived 1,4-butanediol (BDO). Made biologically through the fermentation of plant-based sugars, QIRA® can save up to 86% of greenhouse gas emissions when replacing today’s widely used chemical intermediates made from traditional fossil sources. Bio-derived QIRA® can be used the same way as its fossil counterpart but with significantly better environmental performance. Qore® and QIRA® are trademarks of Qore® LLC. For more information and inquiries visit https://www.myqira.com/.
About Dairen Chemical Corporation (DCC)
Founded in 1979, DCC is a leading maker of acetyl and allyl chemicals. The company board has been chaired by Mr. Lin Shean-Tung since June 2019. DCC operates seven production sites in Asia and serves customers in more than one hundred countries. Major products include Vinyl Acetate Monomer, Vinyl Acetate Ethylene (VAE) Emulsion, VAE Redispersible Powder, Allyl Alcohol, 1,4-Butanediol and PTMEG. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, its productions sites are in Taiwan, China, Singapore and Malaysia. Under the leadership of Chairman Lin, DCC is expanding its international activities and enhancing its global presence.
LYCRA® is a trademark of The LYCRA Company.
QIRA® is a trademark of Qore®.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240509462079/en/
Contact information
Karie J. Ford
Karie.J.Ford@lycra.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Galderma Intends to Buy Back approximately 2.4 Million Shares in the Context of the Accelerated Bookbuild Offering by EQT, ADIA and Auba27.5.2025 18:46:00 EEST | Press release
Galderma Group AG (SWX:GALD): Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR Galderma intends to repurchase approximately 2.4 million shares in the context of the accelerated bookbuild offering of Galderma shares by Sunshine SwissCo GmbH (“EQT”), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (“ADIA”) and Auba Investment Pte. Ltd. (“Auba”) announced today The repurchased shares will be held in treasury and financed by existing liquidity at hand Galderma (SIX: GALD), the pure-play dermatology category leader, today announced that it intends to repurchase approximately 2.4 million Galderma shares in the context of an accelerated bookbuilding offering (“ABO”) of approximately 16.7 million Galderma shares (approximately 7% of Galderma’s share capital) by EQT, ADIA and Auba. Galderma will participate in the ABO at the same price per share which will be determined in the bookbuilding. The repurchased shares will be financed by Galderma’s existing liquidity on hand and will not affect the company’s ability to de
New South Wales Minister for Industry and Trade Visits Novotech Seoul Office to Strengthen Clinical Trial Collaboration27.5.2025 18:44:00 EEST | Press release
Novotech, a globally recognized full-service clinical research organization (CRO) and scientific advisory company trusted by biotech and small- to mid-sized pharmaceutical companies to guide drug development at every phase, was honored to welcome The Hon. Anoulack Chanthivong, New South Wales (NSW) Minister for Industry and Trade, to its Seoul office on May 19. The Minister’s visit highlights a deepening collaboration between South Korea and Australia in the field of clinical research and highlights the strategic importance of cross-border partnerships in advancing global drug development. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250527294947/en/ Novotech, a globally recognized full-service clinical research organization (CRO) and scientific advisory company trusted by biotech and small- to mid-sized pharmaceutical companies to guide drug development at every phase, was honored to welcome The Hon. Anoulack Chanthivong,
LambdaTest Introduces Automation MCP Server to Revolutionize Test Failure Triaging27.5.2025 18:00:00 EEST | Press release
LambdaTest, a unified agentic AI and cloud engineering platform, has announced the launch of its Automation MCP Server, a breakthrough solution designed to simplify and accelerate the process of triaging test failures. By enabling direct integration between AI assistants and LambdaTest’s test execution data, the Automation MCP Server empowers developers and QA engineers to investigate and resolve issues faster, without leaving their integrated development environment (IDE). The Automation MCP Server offers a seamless interface within the IDE, allowing users to access and analyze real-time test data with ease. With intelligent root cause analysis, the MCP server can quickly identify the underlying reasons for test failures and take immediate action to fix the underlying code. This results in fewer debugging cycles and faster release times. The server also enhances automated testing workflows by enabling the generation of new test cases using real execution data. Developers can leverage
The Six Winning Projects of the 12 th Edition of the IBSA Foundation Fellowships have been Awarded and the 2025 Call is Now Open27.5.2025 17:58:00 EEST | Press release
Research means investing in the future. This is the guiding principle behind the IBSA Foundation Fellowships programme, which for over a decade has supported talented researchers under 40 from universities and research institutions around the world. The programme awards grants to promote innovative and potentially groundbreaking projects in lesser-explored scientific fields; a constantly growing success, also confirmed by the 2024 edition, which marked a new record, with 259 applications across five scientific areas. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250522244202/en/ The Award Ceremony of the 12th edition of the IBSA Foundation Fellowship The € 32,000 fellowships were awarded to research projects in five scientific areas: dermatology, endocrinology, fertility/urology, pain medicine/orthopaedics/rheumatology and healthy aging/regenerative medicine. In particular, this latter category has attracted growing interes
Rigaku Completes New Building at Yamanashi Plant27.5.2025 17:00:00 EEST | Press release
Rigaku Corporation, a global solution partner in X-ray analytical technologies and a Group company of Rigaku Holdings Corporation (headquarters: Akishima, Tokyo; President and CEO: Jun Kawakami; hereinafter “Rigaku”) completed an additional manufacturing building (hereinafter “the New Building”) at Yamanashi Plant, Rigaku’s main production facility. The facility was established to serve as the center of Rigaku’s production framework, in anticipation of global business growth and expansion in product demand. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250527974928/en/ Exterior view of the New Building, Yamanashi Plant Doubling of production capacity: a strategic base to support Rigaku’s growth Demand for X-ray analytical solutions has soared in recent years, both in Japan and worldwide. To respond to growing demand, Rigaku implemented this expansion with two key objectives in mind. One objective is to further reinforce the
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom