Walmart has announced it is partnering with Rubi Laboratories to use carbon emissions to create carbon-negative textiles.

The companies have said they will run pilot projects aiming to capture carbon emissions from manufacturers and facilities in the Walmart supply chain to turn them into a garment prototype.

The manufacturing pilot is designed to examine how the technology could be integrated at a larger scale in the Walmart supply chain and test the capture of carbon emissions at some of Walmart’s facilities.

The brand pilot will test Rubi Labs’ fibre performance in a prototype garment, with a goal of producing garment samples.

Walmart said that if this is successful, a larger apparel collection could follow and be available in its stores.

The founders of Rubi Labs Neeka and Leila Mashouf have mimicked they way that trees "eat" CO2 to create cellulose which is needed for them to grow in their process.

Their patent-pending process, like trees, capture and convert carbon emissions, spinning the resulting cellulose into fabric.

The final products are carbon-negative, resource-neutral textiles that can be used for clothing and other materials.

“At Rubi, our goal is to ensure a thriving future by restoring Earth’s ecological balance with reimagined supply chains,” said Neeka Mashouf, co-founder and chief executive, Rubi Labs. “Walmart’s ability to mobilise positive impact across its supply chain of diverse US partners could be massively impactful in scaling our production and delivering on our commitments."

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