#Yarn & Fiber

2022-07-14

Following sustainable fibers from feedstock to store stocks

With a portfolio that incorporates renewable resources and waste content as feedstocks, Eastman Naia™ cellulosic yarns and fibers are fully traceable, sustainable solutions for fashion and home textile brands. Now, there's an innovative way to share that traceability information from across the entire supply chain.

Eastman partners with award-winning TextileGenesis™ traceability technology to provide track-and-trace solutions for Naia™ brand.

Eastman, manufacturer of Naia™ products — including Naia™ Renew, a fully sustainable material made with renewable bio-based and molecularly recycled waste — has collaborated with TextileGenesis™ to use blockchain technology to identify and track the path Naia™ takes from raw materials to final garment.

Proven traceability helps verify a product's sustainability story. Using advanced digital technologies and supply chain modeling, TextileGenesis™ traces every phase of garment making, citing farm and factory locations and every process used to get a product from point of origin to final retail destination.

Here's how it works.

The pioneering TextileGenesis™ system engages all tiers of a supplier's ecosystem to create unprecedented traceability based on five key principles:

Verifying the point of origin by digitizing any textile asset (e.g., fiber, filament, yarn, fabric, garment) to ensure there is no double counting

Capturing real-time shipment transactions across supply tiers

Value chain modeling, using augmented intelligence to gain insight on complex textile value chains along with wastage and loss factors

Creating a cross-industry ecosystem by working with organizations, exchanges, established protocols, and sustainable fiber producers — applying premier environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards

Supporting independent, third-party verification, including by those that perform forensic fiber audits and verify the ESG credentials of suppliers

"Traceability in the textiles supply chain is a crucial step for a more transparent industry overall," said Claudia de Witte, sustainability leader, Eastman Textile Fibers. "Joining the TextileGenesis™ platform is an exciting addition to our existing Naia™ verification program. By collaborating with fellow innovators, we are delivering on our 2022 sustainability goal to enable advanced technology and information solutions for tracking and tracing our materials."

According to de Witte, the TextileGenesis™ partnership demonstrates Eastman's commitment to partner with industry leaders to implement systematic changes that help ensure that sustainable textiles are accessible to all.

"Traceability is fast becoming a key prerequisite to sustainable product offerings," said Amit Gautam, TextileGenesis™ CEO and founder. "Our partnership with Eastman will create unprecedented supply chain traceability for Naia™ fibers and filament towards retail brands. It moves forward the sustainable fibers industry to create end-to-end traceability."

Empowering consumers to make ethical choices

Made with the vision to inspire more eco-friendly fashion and home textiles, Naia™ cellulosic yarns and fiber are responsibly sourced from sustainably managed pine and eucalyptus forests to ensure no deforestation of ancient and endangered forests. For further sustainability, Naia™ Renew gives brands the opportunity to offer circularity at scale. Produced from 60% sustainably sourced and traceable wood pulp and 40% certified* recycled waste materials, Naia™ Renew creates new value from hard-to-recycle materials that would otherwise be destined for landfills, incinerators, or other undesirable end-of-life destinations.

According to de Witte, "Understanding where materials come from is a vital part of a brand's sustainability story. By working with TextileGenesis™, we're giving our brand partners a Naia™ travel log from factory floors to retailers' doors, complete with snapshots that detail its journey across the value chain. And in the end, this gives consumers the information they need to make ethical decisions about their fashion."

For more information on eco-conscious Naia™ and Eastman's sustainability goals, visit https://naia.eastman.com/sustainability.

*Naia™ Renew recycled content is achieved by allocation of recycled waste material using an ISCC-certified mass balance process.

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