The ‘Preferred Fiber and Materials Market Report 2021′ outlines the market for plant fibres such as cotton, hemp, and linen; animal fibers and materials such as wool, mohair, cashmere, alpaca, down, silk, and leather; manmade cellulosics (MMCFs) such as viscose, lyocell, modal, acetate, and cupro; as well as synthetics such as polyester, polyamide, and more.

The results show that between 2019 and 2020 the market share of preferred cotton increased from 24% to 30% and recycled polyester from 13.7% to 14.7%. Preferred cashmere increased from 0.8% to 7% of all cashmere produced while Responsible Mohair Standard certified fibre expanded from 0% to 27% of all mohair produced worldwide in its first year of existence in 2020. The market share of FSC and/or PEFC certified MMCFs increased to about 55-60%. While the market share of recycled MMCFs is only 0.4%, it is expected to increase significantly in the following years.

Brands’ increased interest in the use of preferred fibres and materials was also demonstrated by a 75% rise in the total number of facilities (to 30,000) around the world becoming certified to the organisation’s portfolio of standards in 2020. These standards include the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), Organic Content Standard (OCS), Recycled Claim Standard (RCS), Content Claim Standard (CCS), Responsible Down Standard (RDS), and Responsible Wool Standard (RWS), Responsible Alpaca Standard (RAS) and the Responsible Mohair Standard (RMS). In early 2021, Textile Exchange launched the Leather Impact Accelerator (LIA) to address the major sustainability challenges throughout the bovine leather supply chain from farm to finished leather, including an Impact Incentives programme.

“We celebrate this growth. It’s taken a lot of learning and collaborating to get to this point,” La Rhea Pepper, Textile Exchange founder and CEO says in the report. “But even with this growth, preferred fibres still only represent less than one-fifth of the global fibre market. That’s not enough. Not in 2021. Not with climate at the brink of major change.”

Less than 0.5% of the global fibre market was from pre- and post-consumer recycled textiles.

Global fibre production has almost doubled in the last 20 years from 58m tonnes in 2000 to 109m tonnes in 2020. While it is not yet clear how the pandemic and other factors will impact future development, global fibre production is expected to increase by another 34% to 146m tonnes in 2030 if the industry builds back business as usual. If this growth continues, it will be increasingly difficult for the industry to meet science-based targets for climate and nature, Textile Exchange says.

“Whether for current or post-pandemic business, the production and use of preferred fibres and materials must be a non-negotiable decision,” says Pepper. “Now is the time to accelerate a transition to increasingly sustainable practices to reduce conventional fibre and material production’s footprint on the planet.”

Liesl Truscott, Textile Exchange corporate benchmarking director, adds: “Increasing the uptake of preferred fibres and materials, proliferating regenerative practices, mitigating land-use change, supporting the transition to renewable energy, and encouraging innovation and circularity are known solutions towards Textile Exchange’s Climate+ goal. Acceleration of such solutions have to guide us in the next nine years that are so decisive for the future of our planet and all life on earth.”

Earlier this year, Textile Exchange launched a new initiative to drive the uptake of recycled polyester (rPET) across the clothing industry and the associated reduction in greenhouse gases (GHGs). 

By Just Style