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Last year, Qore opened its $360 million plant in Eddyville, which has been busy converting corn sugar into 1,4-butanediol (BDO), a chemical feedstock once made from coal and petroleum, through a partnership with Cargill. QIRA is derived from annually renewable crops and serves as an impactful alternative to a fossil-derived equivalent used in the manufacture of consumer goods.
EDDYVILLE — In a concept called farm to fashion, Iowa corn farmers are raising a crop that’s being used by global apparel brands.
Last year, Qore opened its $360 million plant in Eddyville, which has been busy converting corn sugar into 1,4-butanediol (BDO), a chemical feedstock once made from coal and petroleum, through a partnership with Cargill.
The 2,000-acre Eddyville plant produces high fructose corn sweeteners, dextrose and other food ingredients. The facility aims to produce 66,000 metric tons of Qira annually, using corn grown primarily within 100 miles of the Eddyville campus. Producing that much Qira will require 30,000 bushels of corn each day, increasing demand for corn in the area.
The corn-based BDO, marketed under the brand name Qira, has been used to create bio-based Lycra, or spandex, fibers. One of the apparel brands that started using the corn-based BDO-made Lycra in its clothes happens to be Lululemon.
“We’ve been working on plant-based nylon with our partner Geno for almost two years,” Esther Speck, Lululemon senior vice-president, global sustainable business and impact, said in a press release. The launch of the plant-based nylon products is part of the company’s “journey toward net zero,” Speck added.
The global company rolled out its first renewably sourced, plant-based nylon products in April 2023 as part of its Be Planet goal of making 100% of its products with sustainable materials by 2030.
“Together with Lululemon, Geno is opening a new chapter for plant-based nylon and accelerating the sustainable materials transition. We’re proud that this partnership is disrupting the $22 billion dollar nylon market, and with Lululemon, we will be accelerating the sustainable materials transition at scale — and this is only the beginning,” said Christophe Schilling, CEO and founder of Geno.
Customers can determine which of the Lululemon products contain Qira on clothing tags that indicate plant-based sources were used in the making of the clothes.
Qira also can be used in beauty and personal care products, automotive parts and electronics and packaging.
Lycra plans to incorporate Qira into its clothing fiber and believes doing so will reduce its carbon footprint by up to 44%.
“There’s only so many dead dinosaurs left” to create the next pair of Lululemon leggings, said Jon Veldhouse, CEO of Qore, at a special ribbon-cutting event last year to kick off the plant’s opening.
“While we’re proud of the technical sophistication of the facility behind us, we’re even more proud of what it represents,” Veldhouse said at the event. “It proves that scalable solutions can come from the groundwork, that innovation can start with corn, that the products we use every day in fashion, footwear, personal care, electronics, automotive, they can be more responsible and serve a louder purpose. Qira is no longer a concept. It’s real. It’s running through the pipes of that facility right now and soon, through global supply chains and into the hands of consumers who are ready for more.”