Hyosung TNC Supplies Eco-Friendly Fibers to The North Face

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Hyosung TNC has decided to supply its eco-friendly fiber, regen®jeju, to the global outdoor brand The North Face.

Hyosung TNC Co., Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote the eco-friendly project "Return for Rebirth" with Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Jeju Samdasoo (Jeju Development Corporation), and The North Face (Youngone Outdoor Co., Ltd.).

This agreement aims to raise consumer awareness of recycling and activate the eco-friendly product market by applying Hyosung TNC's eco-friendly fiber regen®jeju, made from PET bottles collected in Jeju Island, to The North Face's clothing and other products. The North Face's eco-friendly products made with regen®jeju are scheduled to be released in various items such as jackets and T-shirts by the end of this year. To produce these products, 100 tons of transparent PET bottles will be recycled.

"Return for Rebirth" is an eco-friendly project promoted since last year as part of establishing a resource circulation system in Jeju. Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Jeju Samdasoo (Jeju Development Corporation), and Hyosung TNC have joined forces for this initiative. Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and Jeju Samdasoo collect transparent PET bottles discarded in Jeju City, and Hyosung TNC processes them into chips suitable for recycling to produce the eco-friendly fiber regen®jeju. The North Face then uses regen®jeju to release products such as clothing.

Recently, Hyosung’s eco-friendly fiber regen® has shown a growth rate of over 20% compared to last year. This is due to the increasing interest in ethical "value consumption" among the MZ generation (a term encompassing Millennials born in the early 1980s to early 2000s and Generation Z born from the mid-1990s to early 2000s), who lead consumption trends, resulting in a rapid increase in influence and purchasing power for eco-friendly brands.

Hyosung TNC has prioritized eco-friendliness as a key management goal since the early 2000s and has continuously developed recycled fibers, creating Korea’s first polyester fiber regen extracted from PET bottles in 2008. Notably, last year, it signed an MOU with Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and others to establish a system for recycling domestic PET bottles.

In 2020, Hyosung TNC enhanced its system for producing high-quality fibers by adding and strengthening impurity washing processes and created the recycled fiber "regen®jeju" using Jeju’s waste PET bottles for the first time in Korea. Regen®jeju has superior quality compared to general recycled fibers, with better dyeability and clearer color expression.

Chairman Cho Hyun-jun stated, "Companies must take active interest to solve environmental issues such as climate change," adding, "We will continue to take responsibility for environmental issues and lead related industries by developing various eco-friendly products."