Material World is a weekly roundup of innovations and ideas that are reshaping the materials sector. It covers the latest developments in how fashion is designed, engineered, and scaled—from emerging biomaterials and next-generation leathers to engineered fibers and sustainable alternatives.
On Holding AG is introducing a midsole made of captured carbon emissions. The brand's CleanCloud midsole swaps the typical fossil fuel inputs for ethylene made from captured carbon.
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Infinium's eNaphtha is made from captured carbon dioxide and hydrogen, creating a renewable alternative to the crude oil-based petroleum naptha. The eNaptha is then used by Borouge International as an input to create the pellets for the ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) midsole. On noted that the midsole is identical in performance to a conventional EVA foam, with the same molecular weight, polymer chain length and melting point between the two.
"Infinium was founded on the belief that carbon isn't simply a waste product—it's a valuable feedstock," said Robert Schuetzle, CEO of Infinium. "Seeing captured carbon transformed into a product worn by people around the world demonstrates what's possible when sustainable chemistry scales through existing industrial infrastructure."
A life cycle assessment on the foam conducted by CarbonMinds and evaluated by TÜV indicates an 80 percent carbon emissions savings compared to conventional manufacturing.
The CleanCloud technology is rolling out in On's Cloud X 5 sneaker, which debuted July 16. On initially planned to scale the midsole production to a commercial level by 2030, but it is currently ramping up to 1 million pairs. The brand attributes the ability to scale quickly to its direct relationships with the chemical companies, which created a drop-in solution that worked in existing reactors.
"By rethinking how a supply chain can collaborate, we scaled to over a million pairs today," said Jean-Philippe Romain, director of polymer science and engineering at On. "The speed at which we went from a single wild prototype to commercial-scale production is incredibly fast for the chemical and footwear industries."
The brand plans to replace more of its EVA midsoles with greener options in the future.
Covation Biomaterials has launched Sorona elasterell-p fiber, a stretch fiber made using its Sorona polymer. This is the company's first bicomponent stretch fiber that is being manufactured in the U.S.
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