Lauren Choi's The New Norm Turns Red Solo Cups into Sustainable Textiles
Lauren Choi, an engineering student at Johns Hopkins, founded The New Norm in 2019 to convert post-consumer red Solo cups into textile. She built an extruder to spin plastic waste into filaments and partnered with campus fraternities to collect thousands of red cups as raw material. After completing a weaving class, she created a sample fabric to demonstrate the concept.
The New Norm received developmental support from Gaston College Textile Technology Center and the Polymers Center in North Carolina, who helped formulate a wearable yarn. Grant funding was provided by Johns Hopkins University, Garnier, Reynolds Consumer Products, and Hefty’s parent company. The company launched its first direct-to-consumer collection in late 2023 using about 5,000 upcycled cups; the collection sold out within two months.
Production of the yarn takes place in North Carolina and Virginia. The yarn is then sent to Brooklyn, where 3D knitting and printing produce sweatshirts and beanies priced between $45 and $85. The colors of the original cups determine the hues of the yarn. Using continuous filaments, The New Norm reduces shedding of microplastics compared to traditional spun fibers.
Operating with a lean team of 3 to 25 employees, Choi moved to Boston to pursue an MBA at MIT. Production volume has grown substantially from tens of pounds per run to thousands within two years. The New Norm plans to expand into the business-to-business market, conducting pilot projects with large brands to scale material supply and test laundering and strength.
This innovation takes place amid a sustainable textile market valued at $29.5 billion in 2024, projected to reach $71 billion by 2031. Approximately 60% of global fibers are synthetic and global plastic production has increased nearly 200-fold since 1950. However, less than 10% of plastic is recycled, contributing to around 8 billion tons of plastic pollution. Three plastics chemicals generate up to $1.5 trillion in annual economic impact.
