Beyond Vegan Leather: Let's Reinvent Silk, Wool, and More
The decarbonization of apparel materials
We took a brief break for the holidays, and we are back now. Happy 2023!
This is a bi-weekly newsletter about climate solutions. To receive the Gigaton in your inbox each week, subscribe here:
Gigaton Potential
The Apparel Impact Institute estimates that scaling existing sustainable materials and adopting next-generation fibers could reduce total emissions within the apparel industry by 0.8 GT CO2eq per year by 2050. Cumulatively, switching to these low-carbon alternative fibers could eliminate up to 24 GT by 205011.
For reference: in 2019, the world emitted 51 gigatons of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases. Project Drawdown estimates we need to cumulatively eliminate 1,000 GT from 2020-2050 to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.
You Might Be Interested If...
You care about consuming responsibly
You want to reduce the negative impacts of textile and plastic production on our environment
You are excited about innovations in synthetic biology across scales (from proteins to cells and tissue!)
What You Should Know
The apparel industry is estimated to contribute between 4-10% of annual global emissions, 20% of global wastewater, and 35% of marine microplastic pollution. Textiles contribute to 15% of plastic production.
Beyond improvements in energy mix and efficiency, the next wave of decarbonization levers focuses on how we produce, right at the beginning of the product life cycle.
Figure 1: The root-like structure of fungal species called mycelium can be grown to produce next-gen mycelium leather (Source)
.jpg){kind=link}
Sustainable textiles broadly capture the optimization of raw materials in two ways:
Scaling existing sustainable materials and processes (e.g., mechanically-recycled polyester, organic cotton)
Next-generation materials: Innovative approaches to replicate the aesthetic and performance of conventional animal-based and synthetic materials (e.g., using biomimicry, carbon capture and utilization)
While scaling existing sustainable materials and processes can have an impact, the production of these materials still relies on nonrenewable / nonrecyclable resources, petrochemicals, and non-sustainable industrial agricultural practices. We must invest in the next generation of materials to have an outsized impact on the apparel industry,
The growth potential of sustainable materials is promising. The Apparel Impact Institute estimates that recycled fibers constituted 17% of the market in 2020 and are expected to reach 46% by 2050. In addition, the Material Innovation Initiative (MII) estimates the global wholesale market for next-gen materials at $2.2B by 2026, comprising ~3% of the $70 billion wholesale market.
Key Players
The sustainable apparel market can be segmented by end output.
🐄 Alternatives to animal-based textiles: Among next-gen textile companies today, most are developing biomimicry solutions for leather. Examples include Bolt Threads, which has developed a bio-based leather alternative using mycelium (or mushrooms), and Modern Meadow, whose fermentation technology uses microbes to produce proteins that become the building blocks for its leather alternative. Startups are also innovating new alternatives to silk, wool, down, and fur.
🌱 Alternatives to natural / synthetic fibers: Alternative feedstocks such as food waste, agricultural waste, captured and converted CO2, and algae can be used to make fibers as well. Pangaia focuses on plant-derived alternatives, making thermal-insulating outerwear with wildflowers and corn.
♻️ Recycled materials: Materials can be chemically or mechanically recycled to close the consumption loop. Evrnu breaks garment waste down to the molecular level and rebuilds it into new and useful products.
Opportunities for Innovation
🏭 Economies of scale
Though consumers say they care about sustainability, actions speak louder than words – a 2021 study by Simon-Kucher & Partners revealed that while 78% of global consumers felt that sustainability is important in their lives, only 34% of all consumers self-reported their willingness to pay more for sustainable products. Those willing to spend more would only accept a 25 percent premium on average.
Sustainable materials are currently more expensive and are produced in small batches vs. traditional petroleum-based materials. Given the early-stage of development, they will need to be scaled from the lab to industrial levels to achieve economies of scale.
🌿 Platform potential
Deep-tech innovation such as precision fermentation (e.g., using microbes to produce compounds) and alternative feedstocks (e.g., carbon capture to convert CO2 into feedstock for chemicals and polymers) can be scaled across multiple industries, from fashion, to beauty, consumer products and more. Strong protections (“moats”) around core technology and technologies that are scalable across market segments are key.
🥳 What did you think? Let us know here.
Author Bio:
Celia Hauw is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. She was previously a strategy consultant based in Singapore and is excited about the intersection of consumer and sustainability. In her free time, she loves writing fiction, group fitness, and exploring New York City.
Read More Here
Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Completing the Picture - How the circular economy tackles climate change
Material Innovation Initiative, 2021 State of the Industry Report: Next-gen materials
The Business of Fashion, Fashion’s Race for New Materials
Apparel Impact Institute, Unlocking the Trillion-Dollar Fashion Decarbonization Opportunity
GHG emissions reduction estimates based on full potential scale/adoption of sustainable materials. This assumes that the market share of recycled fibers grows from 17% in 2020 to 46% in 2050, reducing total emissions by 0.4 GT CO2eq per year, and that new generation materials displace 75% of emissions from the raw material extraction phase, representing around 0.4GT CO2eq per year by 2050.