全球第一件「廢氣回收衣」，幕後功臣在台灣！ | Lululemon, LanzaTech are reshaping carbon waste into fabric

全球第一件「廢氣回收衣」，幕後功臣在台灣！

當全球氣候峰會COP26在格拉斯哥盛大展開，環境永續議題正熱，年輕世代最夯的瑜珈服品牌Lululemon，近期也發表一塊震撼時尚圈的神祕布料「廢氣回收衣」。其實，此布料的幕後推手，是來自台灣的化纖老將遠東新世紀。為何廢氣能做衣服還能減碳？遠東新世紀表示，這是三年的研究心血，廢氣還來自一個意想不到的地方。

「碳廢氣布」革命性來襲！近期全球瑜珈服領導品牌Lululemon，發表一塊震撼時尚圈的神秘布料，這款布料乍看之下，會以為這不過是塊普通的彈性布，但深究其材質，才會驚訝發現，它竟然是用煉鋼廠排放的廢氣所製成！

這塊跨時代布料幕後推手，是建廠79年的台灣化纖龍頭「遠東新世紀」，它也是全球第二大再生酯粒廠，「現在遠東新的策略是，陸上我們盡量回收；陸上不夠，就從海上撈回來；海上撈不夠，我們就從空氣抓回來，」遠東新固聚事業部副理李聖凱自豪說。

遠東新擅長回收淘金，如今已形成「陸海空」回收全覆蓋佈局。今年遠東廢氣回收，串連美國新創公司LanzaTech，透過碳捕捉技術「抓住」廢氣，再由遠東新回收再造、製成新衣，並提供給Lululemon，直接回收廢氣達成減碳。

陸：寶特瓶不夠收，遠東新成功將舊衣變新衣！

其實，這並非遠東新第一次靠回收驚艷各界，寶特瓶回收變成衣服、海廢回收變成運動鞋，都曾開啟產業新世界。

2010年遠東新成功回收寶特瓶，製成第一款Nike紗球衣，在世界盃大放異彩，並且掀起風潮，往後10年，寶特瓶回收紗儼然成為紡織業爭相跟風的題材，不只台廠，甚至許多中國廠也紛紛搶進。

然而從數據來看，全球每年要用掉近9000萬噸聚酯原料，市面上可回收再造的寶特瓶卻僅1600萬噸，遠遠不及市場需求。

眼看寶特瓶回收量有限，品牌商的減碳、永續壓力又排山倒海而來，遠東新擬定「陸上回收」兩招：一面加強全球布局、回收更多寶特瓶；另一面，便將腦筋動到紡織業最難處理的廢棄紡織品、舊衣垃圾。

歷經八年研究，今年100%的聚酯廢衣回收，已達商業化規模，一個月可產出500噸，並將在明年冬季奧運和世界盃足球賽上，一一亮相。

至於，材質複雜又難回收的舊衣，也逐漸開花結果。今年，遠東新成功串聯國內回收廠、光學業者、國際品牌，跨界組聯盟，一同打通舊衣回收困境，目前在實驗工廠中逐漸放量生產。（延伸閱讀：14家業者聯手打垃圾大戰！「循環紡織」最強台灣隊藏在這個實驗室？）

海：海廢回收走五年，今年跳躍成長

至於遠東新海洋廢棄物回收，今年在產品多元化、商業化也有十足成長，令遠東新長纖事業部協理黃全億形容是，「跳躍式的發展」。

其實，2015年遠東新就開始和Adidas、國外NGO組織Parley合作「海洋回收專案」。大量收取海洋中被棄置的塑料、寶特瓶，並將其再造成運動鞋的鞋面材料。如今，遠東新累計回收上千噸海廢，更是全球最大的海洋回收聚酯廠商。明年的世界杯足球賽上，將可見到七個國家隊穿上遠東新的海廢回收戰袍。

空：煉鋼廠廢氣重生，變身Lululemon瑜珈服

李聖凱透露，其實這次廢氣回收專案，早從三年前開始籌備。當時剛好下游品牌商的Lululemon急需新的產品故事、環保材料，遠東新也急於開發新纖維技術，因此，雙方便將目光放到從未有服裝品牌做過的「廢氣回收」。

所謂廢氣回收，其實是透過碳捕捉技術，將空氣中的二氧化碳、一氧化碳抓住，並轉化成乙醇（酒精）。單就技術來說並不新，但要應用於紡織業卻是第一次。

當時，Lululemon找上具有碳捕捉技術的美國公司LanzaTech，先捉住煉鋼廠廢氣轉為酒精，接著透過遠東新的化學脫水、一步步轉換成聚酯原料，再導入紡織業的纖維、紡紗、織布、染整成衣，製成全球第一件廢氣回收衣。

遠東新能搶下這筆獨家生意，不光因為過去在循環回收打響一片天，同時還兼具業界罕見的上中下游垂直整合力，又精通各環節knowhow和技術，因此自然成為品牌的合作首選。

「這次跟Lululemon合作，其實他們永遠在做別人沒做過的事情。」李聖凱說，其實遠東新也是一樣，永遠在追尋永續、創新，專走沒人走過的路。

今年，遠東新董事長徐旭東就在股東會上提及，要成立專責「未來」的部門，並盡快跳脫石化原料，找出下個世代的「New fiber（新纖維）」。

如今廢氣再生的New fiber已風光上市，更吸引許多品牌登門合作，不過，遠東新並未自滿，反倒透露已在研究三年後的新產品。究竟，繼海陸空全回收後，老牌化纖廠還會端出什麼New fiber？業界都密切關注。

新聞來源：遠見

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Lululemon, LanzaTech are reshaping carbon waste into fabric

Addressing industrial emissions and harmful particulate matter, such as those produced by steel mills, continues to be a difficult challenge. 

Consider that right now, the steel industry is among the three biggest producers of carbon dioxide. In 2018, every ton of steel produced emitted about 1.85 tons of carbon dioxide, according to the World Steel Association. That equates to about 8 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.

LanzaTech, a carbon recycling tech company, views addressing those industrial emissions as an opportunity. It uses CO2 as a feedstock to create products. And in its latest announced partnership with athletic apparel company Lululemon, it’s creating yarn and fabric using recycled carbon emissions.

Here’s how it works: LanzaTech captures pollution from industrial sources — for example, greenhouse gas produced by a steel mill in China, the source for the Lululemon fabric, which is similar to the proprietary fabric that it uses for its leggings. The company hasn’t yet announced which of its products will be made from the new textile. 

In a process similar to beer brewing, Lanzatech converts the greenhouse gas into ethanol. Then it passes that ethanol onto project partner India Glycols Limited, a petrochemical manufacturer that turns the ethanol into monoethylene glycol, a chemical normally made from fossil fuels. Lastly, one other partner, Far Eastern New Century, a Taiwanese textile producer,  converts the monoethylene glycol to polyester.

What makes the fabric Lululemon is making with LanzaTech different from the textile that it has historically used is that it doesn’t require more fossil carbon to be pulled from the ground.

"What you don't want is to always have to use fresh fossil carbon," said Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech. "We’ve got to keep fossil carbon in the ground."

LanzaTech previously brought its process of capturing and recycling carbon to airlines with a jet fuel application and home care companies, creating packaging and surfactants. Lululemon is the first company it’s working with on textile production.

"What we're saying is, ‘Look, we're gonna take all of this waste, whether it's a gas or a solid, we're going to convert it to ethanol," Holmgren said. "And ethanol is going to be an intermediate to make all of the products that we make today in the petrochemical sector."

One of Lululemon’s goals is to make 100 percent of its products with sustainable materials and end-of-use solutions, toward a circular ecosystem by 2030. As part of this goal, it is planning to leverage its partnership with LanzaTech, creating a polyester where 30 percent of the product uses recycled carbon emissions. 

In addition to its partnership with LanzaTech, Lululemon has a couple of other approaches in place to meet its goal. For example, it is a founding member of the Mylo Consortium, a group of four fashion companies that invest in material innovation — specifically, material made from mycelium, the root system of mushrooms — and other solutions to reduce the industry’s environmental impact. Other consortium members are Adidas, Kering and Stella McCartney.

Right now with its LanzaTech partnership, Lululemon is focused on creating and testing a successful fabric in order to inform future scaling and product plans, according to Ted Dagnese, chief supply chain officer at Lululemon. 

"We are thrilled with the fabric that we have seen through this partnership to date," Dagnese wrote in response to questions emailed for this story. "We believe that sustainable innovation will play a key role in the future of retail and apparel, especially in polyester which is a widely used material."

Original Article: GreenBiz