The Lycra Company has joined hands with Qore—a joint venture between Cargill, an expert in agricultural fermentation technologies, and HELM, a German chemical company—to produce Qira, a renewable ingredient derived from Iowa field corn.
- Qira will be the key component in renewable Lycra fibre, and aims to bring comfort, style and fit to clothing worn around the world, now with a reduced environmental impact.
The project: When Cargill receives the harvested corn from the farms, part of the process involves separation of the kernel into discrete parts, ensuring each gets used where it can deliver the most value.
- For example, while the protein typically gets used to create animal feed, the starch portion can be found in a myriad of applications—including ethanol for gasoline, food uses such as corn syrup, and now, fibres for clothing.
Iowa has some of the most productive farming ground in the nation, excellent infrastructure for transporting goods, and the support of organisations like Iowa Corn Growers Association and Iowa Corn Promotion. - Iowa is also home to Cargill’s biotechnology campus and corn refining operation in Eddyville, Iowa. The Qore facility for manufacturing Qira is also located here, tapping into Cargill’s expertise, R&D and network of farmers.
- The Qore facility will run mainly on wind power, reducing energy GHG emissions, and will source field corn from within a 100-mile radius—reducing transportation emissions and providing local farmers, like Kuiper, with a reliable market for their crops.
- Qore is committed to farmers who use regenerative agriculture practices to raise their field corn.
The context: Balancing cleaner, safer and more resource-efficient production methods with innovation to drive business growth is difficult in any industry.
- The global production of clothing and footwear generates 8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and, with manufacturing concentrated in Asia, the industry is mainly reliant on hard coal and natural gas to generate electricity and heat. If we carry on with a business-as-usual approach, the greenhouse gas emissions from the industry are expected to rise by almost 50% by 2030.
- However, recent data from the Rodale Institute, collected from farming systems and pasture trials around the globe, shows that if farmers can improve soil health, through regenerative agricultural practices, then more than 100% of the global annual CO2 emissions could be sequestered into the soil. That’s roughly 52 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide every year.
Going regenerative: The core focus of regenerative agriculture is about working with farmers to promote healthy soil practices and biodiversity—including low or no tilling, planting cover crops, reducing fertilizer use, and improving nutrient management.
- All of these practices are designed to increase soil organic matter and reduce GHG emissions by sequestering more atmospheric carbon into the soil. This in turn helps promote biodiversity—as well as improving water quality and reducing soil erosion.
What they said:
With Qira, we will be pulling vast quantities of CO2 out of the atmosphere by growing annually renewable corn crops and capturing it in the product. Thanks to the involvement and support of local intergenerational farming families, renewable materials—like Qira made from field corn—are helping to accelerate regenerative agriculture practices and support local farming economies.
— Jon Veldhouse
Chief Executive Officer
Qore
