The Next-Gen cellulose: can we replace trees?

There’s a lot of green chemistry behind the scenes of the textiles industry in a bid to find alternative feedstock and processes to viscose.

Man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCFs) are the second biggest group after cotton in the cellulose category and while they don’t rely on petrochemicals like the polyester and polyamide fibres, Viscose, which accounts for 91 per cent of the MMCF market, presents many challenges that we need to find solutions to in our pathway to a more sustainable textiles economy.

We look at the main challenges, solutions and some of the newest and promising cellulosic fibre options.

Challenges associated with Man-made cellulosic fibres

Deforestation & its environmental and social impacts

Sourcing the raw material for the production of MMCF is taxing on the environment: over 150 million trees are logged for man-made cellulose production every year and is on the upward trend, some of which are from sources that lack sustainable forestry management, sometimes even involving illegal trade. Illegal logging (for all wood products, texiles are among them) is in fact the most profitable natural resource crime, and accounts somewhere between 15 and 30 percent of global timber product trade. Illegal logging and the poor governance of the forest sector that often…