The European textile industry is trying to set a hard-and-fast rule for its raw material structure over the next two decades. On September 22, the Circular and Biobased Textiles Innovation Hub under Textile ETP released the European Bioeconomy Innovation Strategy for the Fibre, Textile and Clothing Industry, explicitly proposing that biobased and circular materials account for 50% of the industry's material use by 2050. The strategy was officially launched at the fourth ECOSYSTEX conference held in Antwerp, with drafting work running from February to August this year and participants drawn from experts across the European biotextile value chain.

The strategy frames this transition as a response to threefold pressure: deepening dependence on fossil feedstocks, growing supply chain risk exposure, and the practical need to improve competitiveness. The document notes that growth in global per capita fibre consumption is almost entirely met by additional fossil-based synthetic fibres; at the same time, more than 90% of global polyester capacity is concentrated in Asia, with other man-made fibres showing a similar pattern. Europe is thus becoming increasingly dependent on a small number of non-European suppliers for strategic textile materials.

On the competitiveness front, the strategy aligns with the EU bioeconomy strategy and the forthcoming Biotechnology Act II. Textile ETP believes that biomaterial and bioprocess innovation could create new competitive advantages and intellectual property differentiation space for EU-based manufacturers.

Textile ETP President Marina Crnoja-Cosic said that the European textile bioeconomy is not just an opportunity for sustainable development, but an industrial opportunity; reversing decades of rising fossil dependence can strengthen competitiveness, resilience and strategic autonomy while creating new industrial value and high-quality jobs. "The choice is in our hands," she said.

The roadmap is organized around four interconnected levels: feedstocks, bioprocessing and refining, fibre and material production, and markets, demand and end-of-life handling. It also puts forward five pillars: biobased feedstocks and biorefining processes, sustainable man-made cellulose fibres, biosynthetic and novel biopolymer fibres, sustainably sourced natural fibres, and biochemical and biobased processing.

To support its assessment, Textile ETP built a quantitative model covering textile fibre consumption in the EU27 from 2000 to 2050, spanning 7 end markets and 11 fibre types, and set three scenarios: business as usual, a circular biobased pathway, and an aggressive bioeconomy pathway. Under the first scenario, the fossil share of Europe's fibre mix continues to rise and industrial competitiveness declines; the second combines recycling investment, bioeconomy innovation and capacity building with balanced incentives; the third assumes a concentrated push on biomanufacturing and biobased materials and processes.

Source: Textile ETP pushes for 50% biobased, circular materials by 2050 · Originally published 2026-09-25