Walmart collaborates with Rubi Laboratories

Walmart is collaborating with fashion tech start-up Rubi Laboratories to research on turning carbon emissions into textiles.

The companies will run a series of pilots comprising Rubi’s technology and Walmart’s supply chain. The fabric produced will then be made into a sample collection.

This collaboration points to several ways in which brands might make use of technology to experiment with their own manufacturing emissions. Companies like Zara are already playing with materials made from recycled carbon.

The technology at Rubi is designed to collect emissions at factories, mills, and other industrial sites. Enzymes will be used to transform them into textiles. The company raised $8.7 million dollars earlier this year and works with fashion companies including H&M Group, Reformation and Ganni.

Walmart executive vice president for sourcing Andrea Albright said, “This technology could play an important role in our journey towards zero waste and zero emissions.”