Cocona Labs Charges Ahead with 37.5 Biodegradable Thermoregulating Tech
Cocona Labs is working to scale its 37.5 temperature-regulating technology beyond synthetic fabrics.
The company’s products manage humidity and heat through the use of active volcanic minerals embedded in polyester fibers. The 37.5 brand has expanded its portfolio across categories from apparel to bedding, outerwear and footwear, with brands like Burberry, Banana Republic, Arc’teryx, Sleep Number, First Lite and Target sleep brand Casa Luna adopting its solutions across knits and woven fabrics.
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“It’s permanently embedded in the product, which is one thing that makes our technology unique,” Cocona Labs president Blair Kanis told Sourcing Journal. “It’s never going to wash out; it lasts for the lifetime of the garment.” The patented technology was found to increase athletic performance by 26 percent in a study conducted by CU Boulder.
Last year, the company announced that it planned to imbue all 37.5 products with an Enhanced Biodegradation (+EB) additive that promotes fiber breakdown at the end of a product’s lifecycle. Third-party testing conducted by Eden Research Laboratory showed that fabrics made with 37.5 yarns broke down almost completely after two years in accelerated landfill conditions, compared with conventional polyester fibers, which can persist for decades, if not centuries.
One year after its decision to treat all products with +EB, Kanis said the company is thinking about the future, and moving beyond synthetic fibers. “The majority of the fabrics made with our technology are blended—cotton-polyester blends, for example,” she added. “You don’t need to use 100-percent 37.5 polyester to achieve the benefits of our technology.” Many brand partners have engineered products developed with man-made cellulosics, cottons and other materials.
“37.5 is only offered through synthetic fibers right now, however, we’ve got some developments in the works this year to bring the technology to other natural fibers,” Kanis said. Those efforts have not yet entered the commercial realm, though there is an appetite to see the textile technology applied to a wider range of inputs, she said.
Doing so will be possible with the help of Cocona Labs’ supply chain partners. The company works with licensed mills which purchase a master-batch of 37.5 yarns with which to develop full polyester or blended textiles. Kanis said mills are required to submit samples to Cocona Labs’ quality control labs in Boulder, Col. for verification, along with samples of any new fabrics that are made with the product. “We do have a certain active particle index, or API, meaning that we want to make sure there’s a certain amount of active particles in the fabric blend so it s performs the way the technology is intended.”
Kanis said she wants to see more fabrics using recycled polyester and 37.5. “What I think is really interesting about the way we sit in the supply chain is that we have the ability to work with our brands to incorporate sustainability in different ways,” she said. “37.5 being a permanent natural mineral, we can also encourage brands to use recycled yarn, which works sustainability into the beginning of the product lifecycle, and now with the +EB additive, we can complete that cycle with benefits at end of life.”
