Today, wood-based textile fibres represent only around 6 % of global textile markets.1 Yet innovative man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCFs) and emerging biobased synthetic fibres produced from renewable wood-based carbon can deliver significantly lower fossil greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fossil-based fibres — and in some cases even lower than certain natural fibres.2
Scaling these solutions requires regulation that reflects environmental performance accurately, consistently and fairly.
Renewable materials play a central role in circularity
Circularity in textiles cannot rely on recycling alone. The availability of recycled textile fibres is structurally limited, and both mechanical and chemical recycling often involve quality losses or high energy use. In addition, no recycled material can be used indefinitely — each recycling loop ultimately leads to material degradation or energy recovery. At the same time, global textile demand continues to grow, further increasing pressure on raw material supply.
Renewable materials therefore play an essential role in a circular system. They provide new, sustainably sourced input to complement recycled fibres and enable the gradual substitution of fossil carbon.
International standards such as International Organisation for Standardisation ISO 59020 already recognise renewable materials as legitimate circular inputs. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) must follow the same material-neutral, science-based logic.
Importantly, renewability has already been acknowledged as a product parameter under ESPR. It now needs to be concretised in the development of textile ecodesign criteria. Renewable feedstocks are not optional; they are structurally necessary to move from a fossil-based linear system towards a truly circular bioeconomy.
Ecodesign criteria for textiles under ESPR should therefore:
- Recognise renewable bio-based fibres as circular content alongside recycled content when defining performance and information requirements.
- Include a renewable content quota in Green Public Procurement (GPP) criteria to help create lead markets for low-emission textile solutions.
- Ensure that recycled content requirements are linked to a demonstrated lower environmental footprint — avoiding situations where energy-intensive recycling results in higher fossil emissions than renewable alternatives.
According to the Joint Research Centre (JRC), 60–63 % of a textile product’s environmental impact originates from the fibre itself. Yet current preparatory work under ESPR focuses predominantly on manufacturing technologies, which account for roughly 21–29 % of impacts.
If raw material choice is not properly addressed, we risk overlooking the single most powerful lever for environmental improvement in textiles.
Performance must be measured correctly: The role of Product Environmental Footprint (PEF)
Because ESPR is intended to be built on performance requirements, the methodological foundation is crucial. The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) framework must accurately capture the environmental benefits of renewable bio-based fibres.
A robust and science-based PEF methodology should:
- Accurately account for biogenic carbon uptake and emissions across the life cycle using -1/+1 approach.
- Transparently reflect fossil carbon use and end-of-life impacts to discourage landfilling.
- Recognise temporary and permanent carbon storage as additional information by delaying emissions and supporting long lived, circular material loops.
- Be aligned with the EU Bioeconomy strategy emphasising that the renewed PEF methodology will improve the assessment and comparison of biobased materials and products.
If PEF fully recognises the role of biogenic carbon and fossil substitution, ESPR can drive demand toward genuinely lower environmental impact textile solutions.
To deliver a true circular bioeconomy, Europe must ensure that both renewable and recycled materials are assessed fairly and scientifically correctly — and that fibre choice, as the dominant environmental impact driver, is placed at the heart of textile ecodesign.
As the Commission advances the ESPR Ecodesign criteria and the revised PEF methodology, we look forward to continued constructive collaboration to ensure that the full potential of wood-based textile fibres — and the broader circular bioeconomy — is fully recognised and realised.
Sources:
1Materials Market Report. 2025. Textile Exchange.
2Promising sustainability results for Kuura textile fibre. Metsä Group.
3 Working document of the 3rd milestone. European Commission. 2026.
