The LYCRA Company Announces Collaboration With Qore® to Use QIRA® for Next Generation Bio-derived LYCRA® Fiber at Scale
29.9.2022 03:00:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
The LYCRA Company, a global leader in developing innovative fiber and technology solutions for the textile and apparel industry, today announced it has entered into an agreement with Qore® to enable the world’s first large-scale commercial production of bio-derived spandex using QIRA®, the next generation 1,4-butanediol (BDO), as one of its main ingredients. This will result in 70% of the LYCRA® fiber content being derived from annually renewable feedstock. This change could potentially reduce the carbon footprint of LYCRA® fiber by up to 44%* versus equivalent product made from fossil-based resources, while maintaining the same high-quality performance parameters of traditional LYCRA® fiber.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220928005020/en/
The LYCRA Company signs an agreement with Qore® LLC to enable large-scale production of bio-derived spandex. Pictured – Julien Born, CEO of The LYCRA Company (left), and Jon Veldhouse, CEO of Qore® LLC (right), at The LYCRA Company’s headquarters in Wilmington, DE, USA. (Photo: Business Wire)
QIRA® will be produced at Cargill’s biotechnology campus and corn refining operation in Eddyville, Iowa. The facility, which is currently being built, will commence operations in 2024. The first renewable LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA® will be produced at The LYCRA Company’s Tuas, Singapore manufacturing site in 2024. The LYCRA Company is currently seeking commitments with brand and retail customers who are pursuing bio-derived solutions for their apparel.
“As part of our sustainability goals, we are committed to delivering products that support a more circular economy while helping our apparel and personal care customers reduce their footprint,” said Julien Born, CEO of The LYCRA Company. “We are especially pleased to collaborate with Qore®, a company that shares our vision for innovative, sustainable solutions. Their expertise in operating fermentation processes and understanding of the chemical value chains makes them the ideal partner to help develop a bio-derived LYCRA® fiber at commercial scale.”
“We are proud to partner with The LYCRA Company on bringing this sustainable material solution to the market. This collaboration demonstrates that QIRA® directly replaces conventional BDO and thus significantly improves the fiber’s sustainability profile,” said Jon Veldhouse, CEO of Qore®. “QIRA® is an innovative platform chemical that can be used in various applications across industries.”
The first generation of renewable LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA® will use feedstock from field corn grown by Iowa farmers and will enable a significant reduction in CO2 footprint. In addition to replacing a finite resource with an annually renewable one, another benefit for mills, brands and retailers is that there is no change in fiber performance, eliminating the need for any re-engineering of fabrics, patterns, or processes. Equivalent performance was demonstrated in 2014 when the world’s first bio-derived spandex was launched under the LYCRA® brand. The LYCRA Company has since been granted a patent for the process used to make renewable elastane from bio-derived BDO.
For additional information on renewable LYCRA® fiber, The LYCRA Company and Qore® invite interested parties to contact The LYCRA Company sales representatives.
*Estimate from Cradle-to-Gate Screening LCA for a representative LYCRA® fiber manufacturing facility, June 2022, prepared by Ramboll US Consulting, Inc.
About The LYCRA Company
The LYCRA Company innovates and produces fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, The LYCRA Company is recognized worldwide for its innovative products, technical expertise, sustainable solutions, and unmatched marketing support. The LYCRA Company owns leading consumer and trade brands: LYCRA®, LYCRA HyFit®, LYCRA® T400®, COOLMAX®, THERMOLITE®, ELASPAN®, SUPPLEX®, and TACTEL®. The LYCRA Company’s legacy stretches back to 1958 with the invention of the original spandex yarn, LYCRA® fiber. Today, 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 www.thelycracompany.com.
LYCRA® is a trademark of The LYCRA Company.
About Qore® LLC
Formed through a joint venture by Cargill and HELM, Qore® will help 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 93% 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.
For more information, visit www.myqira.com.
Qore® and QIRA® are trademarks of Qore® LLC.
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/20220928005020/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
DDN Selected to Modernize Research Data Infrastructure at UNSW Sydney26.10.2026 23:30:00 EET | Press release
DDN, the global leader in AI and data intelligence solutions, today announced that UNSW Sydney has selected DDN to deliver a new research data storage environment as part of the university’s Research Data Experience (RDE) program. Working with Australian software company Arcitecta, DDN will combine its EXAScaler parallel file system with Arcitecta’s Mediaflux® data management platform to help researchers spend less time managing data and more time using it. Following an extensive 18-month evaluation, UNSW selected an integrated approach that will replace 11 legacy storage systems with a coordinated environment for high-performance storage and enterprise data management. The decision reflects a broader challenge facing research-intensive institutions: how to support rapidly expanding scientific datasets while simplifying infrastructure, improving data accessibility and managing long-term costs. Built for data-intensive research, high-performance computing and AI workloads, DDN EXAScaler
Agent Assurance by TestMu AI Is Now Generally Available, Letting Teams Test What Their AI Agents Actually Change26.10.2026 17:15:00 EET | Press release
TestMu AI (formerly LambdaTest), the world's first Agentic AI-powered Quality Engineering platform, today announced the general availability of Agent Assurance. Agent Assurance tests AI agents that take actions, such as calling tools, writing files, and changing records, by checking what a run actually changed rather than what the agent says it did. Any team can now create a TestMu AI account and run it against its own agent without booking a demo first. Agent Assurance launched on August 17, 2026, behind a waitlist and a guided onboarding session. Since then, Rook, the CLI that runs Agent Assurance, has shipped a steady run of releases, shaped by feedback from early teams. Agent evaluation has mostly graded the final reply, and that reply can be wrong about the agent's own work. In CXBench, a benchmark of LLM agents in regulated customer-experience workflows published in October 2026, 80.1% of runs that reached the right outcome still failed the process checks, and only 13.8% passed b
Actiphy Announces ImageServer for Centralized Backup Storage and Post-Backup Processing26.10.2026 17:13:00 EET | Press release
Actiphy™, Inc., a provider of backup, disaster recovery, and virtualization software, today announced Actiphy ImageServer™, a centralized platform for storing, managing, verifying, and replicating backups created with ActiveImage Protector™. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261026410729/en/ Actiphy ImageServer Console ImageServer combines the management capabilities of Actiphy ImageCenter™ with the secure storage of Actiphy StorageServer™. By moving Verify, Replication, Consolidation, and BootCheck™ to a dedicated server, ImageServer reduces processing load on protected systems and simplifies backup administration. As organizations protect more systems and retain more backup generations, storage and administrative demands grow. ImageServer addresses these challenges by centralizing backup storage and management and automating post-backup processing. Key capabilities include: Inter-File Deduplication™ — Identifi
Dubai Chambers Launches World's First Agentic AI Marketplace by a Chamber of Commerce26.10.2026 17:06:00 EET | Press release
Dubai Chambers has launched Chamber AI Hub, the world's first Agentic AI marketplace developed by a chamber of commerce, enabling businesses in Dubai to access ready-to-use AI agents that independently perform a range of administrative and operational tasks. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261026467531/en/ H.E. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori Chairman of Dubai Chambers. (Photo: AETOSWire) The marketplace currently offers 22 specialised AI agents across seven business functions including Compliance, Procurement, Operations, Finance, Sales, Human Resources, and Logistics. The offering is set to expand to 100 agents. The initiative supports Dubai's efforts to accelerate the adoption of Agentic AI across the private sector, helping businesses enhance efficiency, strengthen competitiveness, and transform their operating models. H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Chairman of Dubai Chambers, commented: “Success in
Media Release: Allianz Beach Arena for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games Joins the Allianz Family of Stadiums26.10.2026 16:37:00 EET | Press release
For the first time in Olympic and Paralympic history, a competition venue will carry the Allianz name. The Allianz Beach Arena in Long Beach, California, for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games will become the newest member of the Allianz Family of Stadiums. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261026919959/en/ Allianz's "custom A" emblem for LA28. From Horse Guards Parade in London to Copacabana Beach in Rio and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Olympic Beach Volleyball has always found its home in iconic settings around the world. At the LA28 Games, that home will carry the Allianz name. Allianz is proud to help celebrate this exciting sport in Long Beach, a city in the southern part of Los Angeles County where beach volleyball is part of everyday life and local culture. Set right on the Long Beach waterfront, the nearly 15,000 seat temporary arena will host the Olympic Beach Volleyball and the Paralympic Blind Footba
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