Sample: Innovation Outlook: Fibres and Yarns Ankit Innovation Outlook

In the first Innovation Outlook of 2024, WTiN revisits fibres and yarns.

The third iteration of the annual Fibres and Yarns edition of the Innovation Outlook sees the WTiN team take another close look at intriguing innovations in the fibres and yarns sector.

The drive to create a sustainable and circular textile & apparel industry is fuelling research and development (R&D) in alternative materials more than ever. The industry seeks solutions that can:

(a) omit the use of toxic, synthetic fibres,

(b) reduce the mass land usage required when growing natural fibres,

(c) reduce the mass water usage required when growing fibre crops,

(d) or generate alternative revenue and value streams that make use of waste.

As such, there exists growing emphasis on the production of biobased textiles that have minimal carbon footprints. Consequently, WTiN examines a collection of alternative, bio-based fibres available to industry from the environment around us: algal, cellulosic and protein-based fibres, to be exact.

First, we examine innovations in the algal space, where commercial algae cultivation has long served industries such as pharmaceuticals or food but shows increasing potential with regards to material. Today, the textile & apparel industry seeks to leverage the bloom in algal textile developments to embrace its environmentally sustainable credentials and an “array of extractable ingredients” contained within algae.

Then, we dive into cellulosic fibres. There exists great potential for the textile & apparel industry to tap into various agricultural waste streams to explore new sources of feedstocks for the fashion industry. In adopting such materials, industry could not only improve environmental and social sustainability but teeter closer to the installation of circular systems.

And finally, the report examines protein-based fibres, where a vast array of sources – including, but not limited to, milk waste and human hair – can tap into renewable resources and offer biodegradable alternatives to synthetic fibres.

In the meantime, visit www.wtin.com for more innovations within the sectors.

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