The world's largest retailer is partnering with a three-year-old East Bay startup that transforms carbon emissions into textiles.
Walmart on Thursday announced a pilot project with San Leandro-based Rubi Laboratories that will analyze ways to capture carbon emissions in the retail giant's supply chain and then use those captured emissions to create prototype garments.
Rubi Laboratories has developed a technique that can convert captured carbon into a form of cellulose, which can be turned into sheets of rayon that can then be used to manufacture clothing.
If Walmart is ultimately satisfied with the "fiber performance" of Rubi's product, "a larger apparel collection could follow and be available in our stores," Walmart said in a press release.
Recycling captured carbon in manufacturing is becoming a more popular concept as the world attempts to drastically reduce emissions to meet climate change goals.
But captured carbon is still mostly used in a single, emissions-heavy industry, oil extraction, according to Bloomberg News, which reported the partnership earlier on Thursday.
The United Nations has established a set of guidelines for reducing carbon emissions globally, and they fall under three categories that are described as Scopes 1, 2 and 3.
The first two scopes cover an organization's direct and indirect emissions, such as their vehicle fleets and electricity usage. The third scope covers what is essentially supply chain emissions.
Walmart has committed to achieving net zero across its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2040, but the company's supply chain, covered under Scope 3, comprises 95% of its total emissions footprint, according to Bloomberg News.
Twin sisters Neeka and Leila Mashouf founded Rubi Laboratories in 2020 and went through UC Berkeley's SkyDeck accelerator in the fall of 2021.
They also have partnerships with other brands like Reformation, GANNI, Nuuly, H&M and Patagonia, but Walmart's stamp of approval could be a game changer for the company because of the retailer's global scale.
Rubi Laboratories has raised $13.5 million from investors including Talis Capital, Patagonia's venture arm Tin Shed Ventures, H&M Group, Collaborative Fund, Necessary Ventures and thredUP CEO and founder James Reinhart. In addition, the National Science Foundation awarded the company a $250,000 grant.
Neeka and Leila were also among the Bay Area Inno Under 25 honorees in 2022.
Other Bay Area companies are developing technologies that repurpose captured carbon, as well. They include Berkeley-based Twelve, which is developing ways to reuse captured carbon into materials like alternative fuels and sunglasses, and San Leandro-based Air Protein, which is using carbon to create edible protein products.
