LYCRA® Fiber achieves prestigious Cradle to Cradle Certified® Material Health Gold, V4.0
The LYCRA Company has announced a significant step forward in sustainable innovation with its flagship LYCRA® fiber earning the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Material Health Gold certification, Version 4.0, a globally respected benchmark for material safety and environmental responsibility.
Awarded by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, this certification affirms that over 70% of LYCRA® brand apparel fibers meet the rigorous requirements of Version 4.0 of the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Standard. It also signals that these fibers are free from harmful substances and are manufactured using responsibly sourced materials.
This certification is important because it’s a third-party, independent validation of our products’ material health, which is aligned with leading chemical regulations. It’s not just us saying our product is safe. This is a globally recognized standard granted by an independent body. It provides confidence for our commercial partners and for the consumers who wear our fibers every day.
Dr. Francis Mason, The LYCRA Company’s C2C project lead and technical manager based in Maydown, Northern Ireland
A Collaborative Global Effort
Achieving the Gold level of Cradle to Cradle Certified® Material Health V4.0 required an intensive, company-wide effort spanning continents. The process included internal audits, supply chain assessments, material recipe documentation, and stringent laboratory analysis.
Key contributors included George Jiang, sourcing manager in Shanghai, who led supplier data collection; Dr. Ingo Ganz, global product stewardship manager, who coordinated analytical validation at the Benger Lab in Waynesboro, Virginia; and Sustenuto, an expert third-party assessment body that provided strategic guidance throughout the certification journey.
Compared to the previous V3.1 standard, Version 4.0 includes more stringent requirements, such as increased transparency in reporting, a mandatory on-site audit, and the implementation of a long-term continuous improvement plan.
A Landmark in LYCRA®’s Sustainability Journey
The certification is the latest in a series of initiatives by The LYCRA Company to build a more sustainable product portfolio. Many of its fibers already meet respected third-party sustainability standards, including the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), Recycled Content Standard (RCS), and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®.
Later this year, the company is poised to launch a new breakthrough innovation: LYCRA® EcoMade fiber made with QIRA®, a bio-derived fiber composed of 70% renewable content sourced from field corn, primarily grown in Iowa. This next-generation fiber is projected to reduce LYCRA®’s carbon footprint by up to 44%* without sacrificing the quality or performance associated with the brand.
Our product vision is to create resilient fibers that deliver on our brand promises, use fewer finite resources, extend garment wear life, and ultimately can be recycled or composted at end of life
Steve Stewart, Chief Brand and Innovation Officer at The LYCRA Company.
