Covalent AirCarbon Fashion Products Earn Carbon Negative Footprint
Newlight Technologies, Inc., a biotechnology company based in Southern California dedicated to making materials that improve the environment, is pleased to announce the launch of its new Covalent AirCarbon™ line of personal fashion and electronics accessories made with carbon-negative materials. SCS Global Services (SCS), a world leader in third-party environmental and life cycle assessment, has independently evaluated the Covalent™ product line, using a cradle-to-gate plus disposal analysis, and verified that these products have negative carbon footprints.
Covalent AirCarbon™ fashion products – including handbags, wallets, sunglasses, computer sleeves, and iPhone sleeves – are made with AirCarbon biomaterial. Every day, natural microorganisms in the ocean consume air and greenhouse gases (GHGs) dissolved in saltwater to produce a meltable energy storage material inside of their cells called polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). Over ten years of research, Newlight has learned how to replicate this process on land, synthesizing AirCarbon (a PHB) by combining natural microorganisms from the ocean with air, saltwater, and recaptured methane gas, with 100% of the company’s power usage offset by renewable energy credits.
“We believe that consumers should have the ability to understand the environmental impact of their products on a specific, verified, and actionable basis,” said Newlight CEO Mark Herrema. “By working with SCS, one of the most well-respected firms in the carbon accounting field, we were able to generate a third party report on the specific carbon footprint of every single Covalent product, and thereby give consumers the information they need to decide for themselves what kind of impact they want to have.”
The Covalent AirCarbon™ product line includes: the Riverside Card Holder, the Lucy Coin Purse, the Penrose Clutch Handbag, The Rachel Tote Handbag, the iPhone 11Pro Sleeve and 11Pro Max Sleeve, the Macbook Sleeve 11” and 13”, and Hancock, Huntington and Berguson brand Sunglasses.
SCS’ study examined the manufacture, use and disposal of each product in the Covalent line, including packaging. Product distribution was not included in the assessment. It found that more carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas (CO2e) are sequestered in the production process than are generated to make them, including material synthesis, power, packaging, and shipping, resulting in a net reduction in CO2e in the atmosphere.
“Covalent products are unique,” said Keith Killpack, SCS Technical Director, Environmental Certification Services division. “By recovering and repurposing greenhouse gases as a resource to make materials, in concert with the use of renewable power and recycled packaging, Newlight has achieved its goal of offering the marketplace a net carbon-negative product.”
The negative carbon footprint verification brings Newlight one step closer to achieving its mission: to use AirCarbon to help end climate change and plastics pollution and start to restore the world’s ecosystems through the use of carbon-negative materials inspired by naturally regenerative, carbon-negative processes found in nature.
About Newlight
Founded in 2003, Newlight Technologies is a biotechnology company in Huntington Beach, CA dedicated to producing materials that help improve the environment. Based on more than a decade of research, Newlight developed AirCarbon: a regenerative, carbon-negative material. AirCarbon was named “Biomaterial of the Year” by the Nova Institute and “Innovation of the Year” by Popular Science. Newlight was also recognized as a “Technology Pioneer” by the World Economic Forum and awarded the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
About SCS Global Services
SCS Global Services is a global leader in third-party environmental and sustainability verification, certification, auditing, testing, and standards development. Its programs span a cross-section of industries, recognizing achievements in climate mitigation, green building, product manufacturing, food and agriculture, forestry, consumer products, and more. Headquartered in Emeryville, its broad network of auditors are experts in their fields, and the company is a trusted partner to companies, agencies and advocacy organizations due to its dedication to quality and professionalism. SCS is a chartered Benefit Corporation, reflecting its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practices.
For more information, please visit scsglobalservices.com, newlight.com and covalentfashion.com