Lycra has taken a giant leap into the stratosphere of environmentalism with the recent unveiling of its first-ever Planet Agenda Report, which outlines the company’s strategies to become a more sustainable organization by the year 2030. It is named for Lycra’s sustainability framework established in 2008 and features three core pillars: corporate responsibility, product sustainability and manufacturing excellence.

The list of key initiatives includes:

• Advance responsible production practices to help address climate change.

• Reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 50 percent.

• Purchase electricity at manufacturing sites from renewable sources by 2030, with an interim goal of 80 percent by 2025.

• Reduce the global water footprint at manufacturing sites by more than 10 percent.

• Create resilient fibers that use fewer finite resources, extend garment wear life, and can be recycled or composted at end of life.

• Ensure that all Lycra product has at least one sustainable attribute (durability, recyclability, renewability, safety, transparency, etc.).

• Develop and commercialize select fibers and materials that allow customers to use at least 15 percent fewer raw materials by 2025, with equivalent performance to the standard product.

• Develop circular solutions for garments made with Lycra, Lycra T400, Coolmax and Thermolite fibers.

“We believe in transparency and think it’s important to have a clear sustainability roadmap to guide our business into the future,” said Julien Born, chief executive officer of Lycra. “I’m proud of our teams’ work to advance our sustainability efforts and develop our 2030 goals as we work toward our 2050 net-zero commitment.

“Our industry-leading research-and-development team is creating the next generation of sustainable offerings for apparel and personal care products right now,” Born added. “We can’t wait to share what’s next.”

As a proof point to the company’s commitment to delivering sustainable products that support a more-circular manufacturing process for clients including Levi’s, H&M and Lululemon, Lycra recently announced an agreement with Qore so that 70 percent of Lycra fiber will be derived from renewable feedstock by 2024.