Hyosung TNC makes world’s first spandex from corn

September 8, 2022 |

In South Korea, Hyosung TNC has succeeded in extracting spandex from corn and commercializing the world’s first bio-based spandex. 

Hyosung TNC announced last month that it successfully developed bio-derived spandex, ‘creora bio-based’, using a natural material extracted from corn instead of coal, and obtained a global eco-friendly certification. 

The ‘creora bio-based’ spandex uses a corn-derived substance that obtained an eco-friendly certificate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, replacing a part of coal-extracted raw materials. 

The corn-derived substance has long been used for general fibers, wrapping papers, cosmetics, and liquid detergents, but not for high-functional textiles, such as spandex, as it is impossible to deliver unique elasticity and resilience due to technological limitations. Building on its technological prowess that leads the world’s spandex market, Hyosung TNC has made research and development efforts for more than a year, and successfully commercialized bio-based spandex for the first time in the world. 

According to the Life Cycle Assessment, an assessment technique based on the international standards for environmental impact, when ‘creora bio-based’ is applied to the products, it can reduce water use by 39% and carbon dioxide emissions by 23%, compared to conventional spandex products. 

Category: Fuels

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