Lauren Choi's The New Norm Converts Post-Consumer Plastic into Sustainable Textiles
Lauren Choi, a Johns Hopkins engineering graduate, founded The New Norm to convert post-consumer plastic, starting with red Solo cups, into textiles. In 2019, Choi led a team to build an extruder capable of spinning plastic waste into textile filaments, collecting thousands of cups through campus fraternities.
After graduating in 2020, she secured grants from Johns Hopkins, Garnier, Reynolds Consumer Products, and Hefty's parent company to advance product development. The New Norm collaborated with Gaston College’s Textile Technology Center near Charlotte, NC, and the Polymers Center in North Carolina to develop a soft, wearable textile formula for the extruded yarn.
The first direct-to-consumer collection was released in late 2023, utilizing 5,000 upcycled cups, and sold out within two months. The production chain sources yarn from North Carolina and Virginia, with garments manufactured in Brooklyn using 3D knitting technology to knit garments directly from the machine with no seams, reducing waste. The garments are priced between $45 and $85.
Operating with a lean team of 3 to 25 employees, The New Norm has grown from producing tens of pounds to thousands per run over two years. Choi has relocated to Boston to pursue an MBA at MIT.
The market context supports upcycling initiatives like The New Norm: the sustainable textile market was valued at $29.5 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $71 billion by 2031. This growth aligns with concerns about the plastics crisis, given high production levels, low recycling rates, and extensive pollution.
