Goldwin Inc., Neste, Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., and Toray Industries, Inc. have established a supply chain for nylon fiber made from renewable raw materials. Neste supplies Neste RE™, a renewable raw material that enables the production of high-performance renewable nylon fiber and reduces the reliance on fossil feedstocks. The nylon fiber produced through this project is scheduled to be used by Goldwin for a part of THE NORTH FACE products in August 2026.
Renewable naphtha, or Neste RE, is made from bio-based raw materials such as used cooking oil and other renewable raw materials. It is a lower-GHG-emission alternative to conventional fossil feedstocks. With the use of neat (i.e., unblended) renewable Neste RE, over 85%* of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the raw material are reduced compared to the use of virgin fossil raw materials. Bio-based plastics derived from Neste RE are of identical quality to those made from virgin fossil feedstocks and can be turned into exactly the same products and used for the same applications.
Fossil-based feedstocks, like naphtha, can be replaced with Neste RE without changes to the polymers and chemicals manufacturing infrastructure or processes; it is a seamless drop-in solution. In building this supply chain, the participating companies utilized existing facilities and applied the mass balance** approach.
Mitsubishi Corporation coordinated the participating companies in establishing the supply chain for renewable nylon fiber in Goldwin’s products.
*) Life Cycle Assessment on Environmental Impacts of Neste Renewable Polymers and Chemicals (30 June 2021).
**) A mass balance approach is applied to attribute the renewable Neste RE raw materials used in the process to the product.