The New Norm: Sustainable Textile Innovation from Post-Consumer Plastics
Lauren Choi, a Johns Hopkins engineering student, founded The New Norm with a mission to convert post-consumer plastics, such as red Solo cups, into textile filaments. The process began with an extruder built in 2019 and expanded through partnerships with campus fraternities, sourcing thousands of cups. Collaboration with Gaston College's Textile Technology Center and North Carolina’s Polymers Center led to the development of a wearable, soft textile made from recycled plastic. This was achieved by creating a custom polymer blend that is suitable for 3D knitting.
After 2020, Choi secured grant funding from Johns Hopkins, Garnier, and Reynolds Consumer Products (the parent company of Hefty) to support product development. In late 2023, The New Norm released its first direct-to-consumer collection, which utilized 5,000 upcycled cups and sold out within two months. The production chain involves yarn sourced from facilities in North Carolina and Virginia, with a Brooklyn-based manufacturer employing 3D knitting technology to produce sweatshirts and beanies priced between $45 and $85. This 3D knitting method minimizes waste by eliminating seams.
The New Norm maintains a lean team of between 3 and 25 staff members and is actively pursuing pilot projects with large brands to scale the material. These pilots are testing yarn strength and laundering performance to meet industry standards. The market context is significant, with the global sustainable textile market valued at $29.5 billion in 2024 and projected to reach $71 billion by 2031. The company aims to grow through business-to-business partnerships with major brands.
Environmentally, the choice of post-consumer cups offers natural pink, blue, and green hues, while the continuous filament yarn developed reduces microplastic shedding compared to traditional spun fibers. This innovation is set against the broader plastics crisis, characterized by a 200-fold increase in plastic production since 1950, resulting in approximately 8 billion tons of pollution with less than 10% recycled. Additionally, about 60% of textile fibers are synthetic, highlighting the importance of sustainable alternatives.
On a personal and strategic level, Lauren Choi relocated to Boston to pursue an MBA at MIT. She emphasizes the importance of long-term thinking and scaling the business through partnerships with large brands to achieve meaningful reductions in global plastic pollution.
