Bonus episode: Hyosung TNC's Simon Whitmarsh-Knight on creating elastane from sugar cane.

Welcome to another summer bonus episode of Material Matters with Grant Gibson, this time in association with Hyosung TNC.In this special episode, Grant talks to the South Korean company’s marketing and sustainability director, Simon Whitmarsh-Knight, about an intriguing new material the company is spending nearly $1bn to develop – a bio-based elastane (or spandex) that has the potential to revolutionise the clothing market. In this episode they discuss: the history of elastane and its ubiquity in the fashion industry; issues around the material and carbon emissions; how Hyosung TNC is looking to different solutions to reduce carbon; why the company is spending $1bn on an elastane made from sugar cane; building a new fully integrated production system in Vietnam; the importance of infrastructure and collaboration within the fashion world; traceability; how the new product performs and what other environments it could be used in; and the future of bio-based products. This episode has been sponsored by Hyosung TNC. For more information go to: https://www.hyosungtextile.com/enSupport the show