Wednesday, November 20
9:00 am - 10:30 am
From Farm to Fiber: Developing Elastane with 70% Renewable Content
The LYCRA Company is collaborating with Qore®, a joint venture between Cargill and Helm, to enable production of the world’s first LYCRA® fiber to be made at scale using at least 70% annually renewable feedstock. By replacing fossil-based inputs with those derived from dent corn we can achieve up to a 44% reduction in CO2 emissions versus standard LYCRA® fiber.
This presentation will cover the entire process from farm to fiber, including the sourcing of feedstock (featuring video of some of the regenerative farming practices being employed), an overview of the fermentation process used to create the raw materials and fiber production as part of our journey in being a solutions provider for the industry to help reduce overall carbon emissions and achieve sustainability goals.
» Melissa Stewart, Ph.D.
Vice President - Product Management, The LYCRA Company
BIOGRAPHY
Melissa Stewart is currently Vice President – Product Management at The LYCRA Company which includes the strategic oversight the global portfolio and program management for fibers, fabrics and garment innovations across the apparel, personal care and expanded categories. Prior to this role, Melissa served as the VP – Global R&D and End Use Research with The LYCRA Company, overseeing all raw materials, capabilities and teams for new product development. In addition, Melissa also held roles within The LYCRA Company as Global Technology Director, R&D & Materials Innovation, and Director of Innovation Strategy. Before joining the LYCRA® brand team, she was Director of Innovation Strategy for VF Corporation and Senior Manager, Research & Innovation for Jockey International.Her organizational management, visionary, empathetic design approach, and ability to balance tactical and strategic thinking has resulted in a successful career of driving impactful C2C (concept to consumer) innovations to market.
