Walmart Pilots Project To Convert CO2 Into Lyocell Yarns

The world’s biggest retailer Walmart has partnered Rubi Laboratories to test technology, that removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from its supply chain and eventually turn that CO2 into yarn for garments.

As part of a pilot project, Walmart will identify factories in its supply chain where CO2 in waste gases can be captured using Rubi’s reactor systems.

Rubi’s technology will use a biochemical process to convert the gas to cellulose, the main substance in the walls of plant cell and is a technique inspired by the way trees use carbon dioxide to grow.

That cellulose is used to produce Lyocell yarn, which can be made into textiles. After performance testing, Walmart and Rubi plan to develop a prototype apparel collection, according to a joint statement released Thursday.

The goal is to find a greener way to manufacture apparel and if we can pull CO2 out of the atmosphere and put it into a raw material in a way that doesn’t cause an abundance of electricity usage or other implications, that’s compelling to us,” Andrea Albright, Walmart’s VP of Sourcing said.

Rubi CEO Neeka Mashouf said their equipment should be able to capture 90 percent of a factory’s carbon emissions.

While Rubi has successfully created yarn out of carbon emissions, it has yet to do so at commercial scale.