Fibres, Textiles and Clothing in a Globalized World with Tightening Environmental Demands

With about 125 billion kgs of textile fibres produced in 2024, a new record is established as far as amount of fibre material is concerned. This quantity results in 15.6kgs of fibres per capita for the year 2024. Extrapolating 125 billion kgs to the middle of the 21st century with an estimated 10 billion people comes to an expected 150 to likely 160 billion kgs of textile fibres to be generated or used as we may globally presume an increase in the standard of living, i.e. more wealth and so more consumption. Reuse, recycling may have an influence to fill the needs but will likely remain underachieving and more ingenuity through innovation and creativity is the real answer.

Sustainability is an immense and global challenge. Industrial sectors including fibres, textiles and clothing as a whole are essential for mankind but unfortunately also are (very) polluting. The negative impact on our environment is unacceptable and although lots of promises are made about eco-production and waste management, there is hardly any improvement for the fibre, textile and clothing system. Human beings have an essential right to be protected from a dangerous change of their environment and a different way of dealing with (natural) raw materials has to become the standard attitude, or even made mandatory. Fibres, textiles and clothing are characterized by: a global overconsumption, fossil fuels (petroleum) being substantial to the continuation of the fibre production which is risky, greenwashing, extensive use of soil (depletion), massive water consumption, extreme pollution by wet processing (finishing, dyeing), becoming landfill, an unacceptable impact on greenhouse gas emissions, (very) low prices of end products meaning textiles and clothing goods are not at all valued as they should be and so defying any logic (extra taxation needed?), etc.

Not with standing all these negative characteristics, fibres, textiles and clothing do remain simply essential in our life. A completely new approach of the whole system is required with for example much more focussed and joint actions in research to get rid of often archaic means of working. At the same time the production shift to (extremely) low wage countries where environmental regulations and rules are (mostly) fiction has to be stopped and reversed. Manufacturing of textiles and clothes in particular in almost one (large) spot on this planet, followed by an uninterrupted stream of goods to places all over the world, tens of thousands of kms away from production areas, is simply mocking the concept of sustainability. Simultaneously the (very) low prices of the products traded is a travesty of their real value and (expensive) energy needed to manufacture and transport them.

Actual practices contribute to an ecological disaster with massive damage done to the whole planet. The task waiting is huge, taking into account that generally most people don’ care about (ultra or super) fast fashion used on a widespread scale, resulting in value-destruction. A mental change is needed and hopefully the common sense of the public at large finally will prevail leading to a permanent eco-awareness for the sake of the whole planet. Respect to the environment or no compromise on the environmental aspects is a must.

Natural fibres and biofibres

Cotton by far is the example of a fibre cultivated in nature and possessing very interesting characteristics. With an average production of about 25 billion kgs per year, it used to be the key fibre for textiles and clothing. The amount produced annually remains more or less stable and this is likely to continue that way. A lot of land is needed plus massive water consumption including hundreds of chemicals to come to a useful fibre or textile product. Bio-cotton remains a curiosity (1% or somewhat more of cotton fibre production and generally lower in quality with a high variability in characteristics), needs much (more) land and is not going to make a real or substantial difference in the total fibre production for the years to come.

Also, wool as a natural fibre (and some other protein fibre) has its importance but remains a rather limited percentage of the total fibre production with specific challenges. Whatever efforts are made, wool is fine and interesting but suffers from many ecological drawbacks typical for natural fibres (land, water, many chemical treatments, etc.).

Cellulosic fibres (as man-made fibres based on a natural polymer) do show some potential but need too many chemicals in order to be ecologically attractive. There are some environmentally acceptable production processes (lyocell production, Tencel) but the overall amount remains not that high and breakthroughs are necessary to make these fibres a real winner.

Biopolymers have been the subject of various research projects to be transformed into biofibres. The results of these studies however, are (extremely) limited. Polylactides, polyglycolide, polyhydroxy-alkanoates, casein or milk proteins, etc. have been turned into some home textiles and clothing. In addition, the medical sector is showing some interest. Total production however, remains low.

Novel biofibres

At the beginning of this century biotechnology came into the picture to produce textile fibres via a completely different approach. Bacteria, for example, are able to generate cellulose, polyester, polyurethanes, etc. Protein fibres can be produced by specific micro-organisms. Some organisms are able to grow protein polymers, which should be taken into account for making novel biofibres as alternatives to natural fibres such as silk or wool. “Biosteel” (and related developments) as a bionic fibre for example, is an outstanding achievement (and remarkably in favour of the environment) but generally speaking biotechnology and engineering, so far, have not resulted in overwhelming commercial success. The noticed innovation mostly results in a too low readiness level for scaling up. The cost is a major restrictive factor in addition to other elements, e.g. clinging to old ways of production. Extraordinary innovations must emerge and a leap in fibre production technology is absolutely or highly needed.

Research should be oriented towards any kind of biomass including waste, containing carbohydrates and / or proteins to make or grow fibres or fibrous materials by organisms such as bacteria, fungi, algae and even by chemical substances like enzymes! Biotechnology as an interdisciplinary technology and particularly genetic engineering should be given a fair chance (see “biosteel”) to come with really new fibres or enhance the quality of known fibres. That approach contributes to actual demands about the environment: no more pressure nor negative impact on our ecosystem, and sustainable growth!

Research is essential! Combined research meaning a cooperation between industry and universities with substantial governmental support in order to make the biotechnological approach for fibre production a valuable alternative and really successful. A sense of urgency must dominate and a disruptive approach should prevail.

Synthetic fibres: dominance of polyester fibre

Although several types of synthetic fibres are available (polyamide, polyacrylonitril, polypropylene, polyurethane), the polyester fibre is, by far, the main fibre of all! Polyester fibres will soon count for almost 70% of the overall fibre production and have all characteristics to grow even more and fast: strength, flexibility, resilience, low cost, etc. Polyester fibres have been developed by DuPont in the 1940s. With a steady increase in importance, the “explosion” of this fibre started around the year 2000 with the “entrance” of China in world-trade. Polyester is a product based on petroleum and so has undisputable fossil background, is rather easy to synthesize and to turn into a fibre by the well-known extrusion process. As fossil-based materials and particularly the use of oil comes under pressure, an alternative for polyester fibres (or the production process) should be developed which is far from easy and may take decades.

Polyester for fibres is almost always based on two molecules: glycol and terephthalic acid which after polymerisation turn into the polyester polymer, consequently extruded into the fibre. Greenhouse gases are responsible for a fast increase in world temperature, likely 3 °C extra (and even more) by the middle of this century with many calamities as a result. The most crucial molecule of these greenhouse gases is CO₂. Removal from the atmosphere of CO₂ is an excellent intention but technically rather hard to achieve. However, given the interest and importance of polyester fibres, there is a way to produce glycol and terephthalic acid by a catalyst supported chemical reaction starting from CO₂, the toxic greenhouse molecule which is generated in nearly all industrial processes. By doing so, the synthesis of two essential molecules, i.e. glycol (or monoethyleneglycol) and terephthalic acid to produce polyester, thus can help in reducing the CO₂ problem. This specific production route has a cost, but cost should not be a reason not to go for it in order to contribute to master the CO₂ impact on our planet!

An interesting research project is led by “Fairbrics (France)” and is dealing with the capture of CO₂ to produce polyester pellets and fibres. Large support by the European Union is noticed.

As mentioned earlier, the polyester fibre, as a synthetic fibre, shows another challenge. Polyester and other synthetic fibre-based textiles do generate microplastics (and nanoparticles), mainly by washing, roughly about 1 gram per kg of textile product per wash. The generation of microparticles is even increased (!) by the current fast fashion phenomenon as fast fashion is often about very low-quality textiles and clothing, deteriorating quickly in use and care. Managing the microplastic pollution from fibres is a challenge. There is still a lot of uncertainty about the real impact of microfibres but the particles of synthetic origin are of real concern as they may harm marine life, disrupt food chains and pose risks to humans or actually to all organisms.

Fibres, textiles and clothing play a crucial role in our daily lives. With a society in transition, a focus on eco-friendly products is essential for the collective good. Due to a lack of real incentives to come to a sound ecological approach, fibre, textile and clothing activities still have a long way to go to achieve much needed goals such as sustainable growth, circularity, etc. An alternative model of doing business must come into being, in addition to a new awareness among citizens, an awareness which until now unfortunately, is almost completely based on the idea that resources are inexhaustible, so defying any logic. Such a way of thinking is value-destructing, beyond ethics, a threat for the well-being of all and will finally result in an ecological disaster. A global temperature increase of 3 °C around the middle of the century and even more later on, is far from unrealistic if one is not able to master or control the development of greenhouse gases. There are actually several industrial sectors contributing to such a negative scenario and the fibre, textile and clothing chain as a whole has to make some kind of U-turn to do its part of the actions needed to guarantee a greener future, a habitable planet and not to contribute to the unthinkable!