With its latest project “Untapped Agricultural Waste”, the global sustainability initiative Fashion for Good wants to turn agricultural waste into fibers. To achieve this goal, the initiative has partnered with the Laudes Foundation for funding, Fashion for Good partners Adidas, Bestseller, Vivobarefoot and Birla Cellulose, and six fiber innovators AltMat, Bananatex, Chlorohemp, Agraloop by Circular Systems, HempTex India and 9Fiber joined forces.
The collaborative project will assess the technical feasibility of natural fibers produced by the selected innovators from agricultural waste such as rice husk, hemp, wheat straw, banana and pineapple, and will validate and scale up technologies that can successfully convert agricultural waste into sustainable textile fibers.
“This ambitious project is exploring a new source of raw materials for the fashion industry which, if exploited on a larger scale, will help bring both agriculture and the textile industry towards net zero. We see great potential for these diverse agricultural waste streams, for which there would otherwise be few secondary uses. By applying innovative technologies to develop natural fibers, we can reduce the pressure on existing natural fibers and turn away from unsustainable materials and sources,” explains Katrin Ley, Managing Director of Fashion for Good, in a press release.
Why is agricultural waste problematic?
In theory, agricultural waste does not have to be a problem as it can be used as animal feed, compost, biofuel or for industrial purposes. In reality, however, agricultural waste poses major challenges for farmers in South and Southeast Asia, and in many cases the waste is left unused and simply incinerated. According to Fashion for Good, up to 92 million tons of agricultural waste are incinerated annually in India alone, generating about 149 million tons of CO2 in 2017.
At the same time, the sourcing and processing of new, conventional fibers such as cotton and polyester accounts for up to 39 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the textile supply chain, according to Fashion for Good’s recent report, Unlocking the Billion-Dollar Fashion Decarbonization Opportunity. “Raw material innovation is essential to reducing these emissions, and next-generation materials are key as the industry seeks to decarbonize its supply chain,” says Fashion for Good.
Agricultural waste as an opportunity
Fashion for Good’s 18-month Untapped Agricultural Waste Project aims to show that agricultural waste doesn’t have to be a problem, it can be an opportunity. Together, the above partners and the six fiber innovators will explore the possibility of converting agricultural waste into viable new natural fiber blends that offer an alternative to conventional fibers and virgin fibers made from unsustainable materials such as oil.
The six innovative companies will focus on developing a variety of different natural fibers and fiber blends, with an emphasis on testing the highest percentage of agricultural waste while still meeting required performance requirements. Supply chain partner Birla Cellulose will work closely with them and provide their expertise to develop and prepare new materials for wider application in the fashion supply chain. In addition, the brand partners involved in the project will support the testing and eventual scaling of these fibers.
With the financial support of the Laudes Foundation as a catalyst, the project also leverages the findings of the 2021 Spinning Future Threads report produced by the Institute for Sustainable Communities, the World Resources Institute India and the Dutch University and Research Institute Wageningen. The report chronicles agricultural waste in eight countries in South and Southeast Asia and reveals the untapped opportunities in agricultural waste streams such as rice husk, wheat straw, banana and pineapple production, which are the focus of the new project.
The first phase of the project will end in December 2022. After that, the fibers from agricultural waste from selected innovators will be tested in commercial plants in collaboration with partner brands and supply chain actors in order to produce larger quantities. This is intended to further drive adoption through the supply chain and beyond laboratory scale, with this next phase, according to Fashion for Good, “ultimately aimed at enabling offtake agreements with brands and financing to facilitate scaling.”