Kimberly-Clark unveils alternative natural fiber innovation program

DALLAS — Kimberly-Clark Corp. has unveiled a proprietary innovation program focused on advancing alternative natural fibers as the foundation for a next-generation, high-performance, sustainable materials platform, furthering the company’s commitment to Better Care for a Better World.

Company researchers and scientists developed a patented technology platform by transforming fibers from a rapidly renewable succulent plant into sustainable material. The breakthrough has the potential to support Kimberly-Clark’s future hygiene products with enhanced performance, quality and sustainability.*

“This represents an exciting moonshot for Kimberly-Clark and the culmination of more than two decades of materials and plant science expertise,” said Craig Slavtcheff, chief research and development officer at Kimberly-Clark. “We have developed a highly proprietary technology platform rooted in alternative fiber research and believe that these novel natural fibers will form our next great materials platform — an innovation with the potential to reshape the hygiene category.

“While testing continues, we are optimistic about the early results and believe this material will provide curve-bending performance in our products while strengthening our long-term growth and supply chain resilience and accelerating our journey toward a future less dependent on traditional fiber sources.”

The Alternative Natural Fiber program reflects Kimberly-Clark’s consumer-led innovation platform model, which focuses on making strategic investments in disruptive technologies. The approach aims to deliver the best product at the lowest cost while supporting responsible stewardship of the resources essential to the company’s products.

Kimberly-Clark expects products developed with the alternative fiber to support its strategy of focusing on higher-value, differentiated spaces where it has the right to win.

“Kimberly-Clark is at its best when we harness the power of science to solve real human needs and deliver Better Care for a Better World,” said Jeff Melucci, chief strategy, business development and administrative officer at Kimberly-Clark.

“Our Alternative Natural Fiber program is an example of our Powering Care strategy in motion and how we are pushing the boundaries of what we can deliver to consumers to meaningfully enhance how they experience products they rely on every day. We are energized by all the ways this promising innovation can reset the standards in our product categories while delivering the care consumers seek from us and ongoing value to our shareholders.”

About the Alternative Natural Fiber innovation program

After evaluating more than 70 fiber candidates based on performance, sustainability and cost criteria, Kimberly-Clark research scientists identified a promising solution in hesperaloe, a native, low-water-use plant that thrives in the arid climate of the southwestern United States.

The company’s innovation program, based in Yuma, Arizona, has demonstrated that the plant and its proprietary technologies can yield a rapidly renewable natural fiber source that meets the performance and quality standards consumers expect from Kimberly-Clark’s brands.

As part of the innovation program, Kimberly-Clark is building a pilot facility in Yuma and hiring specialized local talent to support it. The company also is collaborating with growers, technical experts and community stakeholders in Arizona, California and across the broader U.S. Southwest to evaluate hesperaloe’s potential as a year-round source of agricultural and economic opportunity.

Compared with several crops currently grown in the region, hesperaloe requires less water to cultivate, offering potential benefits for growers, local communities and regional water stewardship efforts.

Kimberly-Clark believes its Alternative Natural Fiber has the potential to be integrated across its hygiene products portfolio, accelerating its efforts to deliver consumer-inspired, science-driven innovation, strengthen its long-term fiber supply resilience and advance responsible stewardship of natural resources.

*Based on internal Kimberly-Clark research and development testing of Alternative Natural Fibers compared with traditional forest-based fibers used in the company’s current hygiene products.

Source: Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark unveils alternative natural fiber innovation program

Comments