#Fabrics

2025-12-01

SENSIL® by NILIT and ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei collaborate to reduce apparel’s footprint

Unveiling the concept of a new fabric featuring SENSIL® ByNature, a Biomass Balanced Nylon 6.6, and Biomass Balanced ROICA™ premium stretch fiber at ISPO Munich Hall B1/308 ISPO BrandNew Area © 2025 Asahi Kasei

Rapidly transforming apparel into a lower-carbon industry requires collaboration, innovation, and creativity. In this spirit, SENSIL® by NILIT and ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei have collaborated to introduce the concept of a new fabric with less environmental impact, combining SENSIL® ByNature, a NILIT Biomass Balanced Nylon 6.6 yarn, and Biomass Balanced ROICA™ premium stretch fiber, both designed for high-performance apparel.

Both companies utilize textile raw materials created through the Biomass Balance (BMB) approach, which utilizes renewable feedstocks made from reclaimed and recycled organic waste that does not compete with food sources, nor need the use of land for its production.

SENSIL® ByNature is the first textile Nylon 6.6 yarn for apparel made using a Biomass Balanced renewable feedstock sourced from biogenic waste.

Biomass Balanced ROICA™ premium stretch fiber incorporates renewable raw materials in place of traditional fossil hydrocarbons. ROICA ™ will focus its Biomass Balanced (BMB) efforts at its Taiwan plant, the company’s key reference hub for BMB production.

Because BMB products are identical to traditional products, the resulting fabrics engineered with SENSIL® ByNature and Biomass Balanced ROICA™ retain the comparable comfort, aesthetics, and performance as their conventional counterparts. This means that apparel brands can integrate these environmentally conscious fabrics without redesigning collections.

The companies use Biomass Balance accounting and third-party certification to appropriately allocate the percentage of renewable feedstocks to their products so that brands and consumers can rely on the sustainability claims. In addition, the companies are certified under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Plus (ISCC+) system, ensuring rigorous control and transparency in renewable feedstock use across the supply chain.

This partnership will contribute to reducing environmental impact:

NILIT’s SENSIL® ByNature lowers greenhouse gas emissions by about 1.8 kg CO₂ eq per ton of yarn versus traditional nylon.

Asahi Kasei projects that the new ROICA™ Biomass Balanced stretch fiber, combined with manufacturing optimizations, will reduce CO₂ emissions compared to existing products. However, since production decisions have only just been made, exact numbers are not yet available.

When blended, SENSIL® ByNature and Biomass Balanced ROICA™ stretch fiber help designers create outstanding stretch fabrics that substantially reduce a garment’s environmental footprint, lessening reliance on fossil resources, supporting circularity initiatives through renewable inputs, and improving Life Cycle Assessment, while maintaining the premium look, feel, comfort, or stretch performance consumers expect.

Discover more about BMB technologies and experience the next generation of sustainable stretch apparel at ISPO Munich in Hall B₁/308 ISPO BrandNew Area.

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