Stretching Circularity
The Stretching Circularity Project aims to accelerate the development and adoption of lower-impact elastane solutions for the apparel industry through two workstreams. One workstream focuses on testing next-generation elastane materials made from alternative inputs, including bio-based materials and other feedstocks. The other focuses on testing regenerated elastane made through emerging recycling innovations. Both workstreams follow a pilot-scale validation approach to generate comparable data on performance, impact, economic feasibility and scalability.
What’s the challenge?
Elastane, also known as spandex or by the brand name Lycra, is a highly elastic synthetic fibre made from polyurethane, renowned for its ability to stretch significantly (up to 500%) and snap back to its original shape.
Elastane is a critical but problematic fibre in the apparel industry. Although it typically represents a small percentage of a garment (cotton or wool garments usually contain around 1–5% elastane by weight, while polyester or polyamide garments can contain up to 20%), conventional elastane is fossil-based and contributes to high carbon emissions and reliance on non-renewable resources. Even low elastane content can significantly disrupt textile-to-textile recycling, preventing effective recovery of fibres such as polyester and cotton and leading to downcycling or landfill.
Currently, bio-based and recycled elastane solutions are fragmented, in early development, and lack sufficient validation at the pilot scale. At the same time, there are few proven, scalable solutions to effectively separate elastane from blended textiles and recycle it back into new fibres, making elastane-containing garments a persistent blocker to circularity. This scarcity of data and industrially viable pathways prevents brands from confidently adopting and scaling these promising alternatives.
Executive Summary
The Stretching Circularity Project is a collaborative initiative led by Fashion for Good to validate next-generation elastane solutions that support a more circular textile economy. The project brings together brands, innovators, supply chain partners, and ecosystem experts to assess both bio-based and recycled elastane alternatives, as well as technologies that enable the separation and recycling of elastane from blended textiles, through a structured due diligence and validation framework.
By generating comparative data on material performance, recyclability, environmental impact, and commercial feasibility, the project aims to reduce adoption risk, unlock currently blocked textile-to-textile recycling streams, and support the future integration of lower-impact and circular elastane solutions into apparel supply chains.
Goals of the Project
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Map the current innovation landscape: Review and synthesise existing bio-based and recycled elastane solutions, as well as emerging elastane separation and recycling technologies, to identify opportunities and gaps across the value chain.
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Validate next-generation elastane and recycling solutions: Pilot bio-based and recycled elastane materials and technologies for separating elastane from blended textiles to produce demonstrator products.
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Support adoption and scale: Generate comparable data on performance, commercial feasibility, and barriers to scale to reduce adoption risk and unlock circular elastane solutions.
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Assess circular end-of-use pathways: Evaluate recyclability impacts within blended textile systems.
FAQ's
Why is conventional elastane considered a major barrier to a circular apparel industry?
Conventional elastane is fossil-based, meaning its production relies on non-renewable resources and generates high carbon emissions. Furthermore, even a small percentage of it acts as a contaminant during the recycling process, preventing the effective recovery of other fibres like cotton and polyester and often resulting in garments being sent to landfill or downcycled.
What are the main challenges preventing the widespread use of alternative elastane today?
Currently, many of these “next-gen” solutions are fragmented and in early development, meaning they lack the pilot-scale validation required for brands to use them confidently. There are also significant technical, economic, and processing barriers that must be identified and overcome before these materials can be effectively integrated into global supply chains at scale.
Why is a coalition approach necessary to solve this specific problem?
Current solutions for sustainable elastane are often fragmented and early-stage, lacking the data brands need to scale them. By uniting a strong coalition across the supply chain, the project de-risks adoption.
Innovation Partners
Implementation Partners
Ecosystem Partner
Relevant Resources
What are biomaterials in fashion?
Understanding Bio-Material Innovations: A Primer for the Fashion Industry
The fashion industry is undergoing a materials revolution, with bio-based innovations at the forefront of sustainability efforts. This report, developed by Biofabricate and Fashion for Good, provides a foundational understanding of bio-material innovations, their definitions, processes, and potential for large-scale adoption. With contributions from leading innovators, brands, and manufacturers, this primer aims to drive informed decision-making and enhance cross-sector collaboration.
Beyond50 Denim: Combining Cottonised Hemp And Green Chemistry
“Beyond50 Denim: Combining Cottonised Hemp And Green Chemistry” aims to validate the performance and environmental impact of cottonised hemp processed with green chemistry to act as a true alternative to cotton in denim applications. The project goal is to evaluate the performance of SEFF’s cottonised hemp fibre in combination with Fibre52’s bio-friendly chemistry solution within denim fabric applications with a total hemp content of 50% and above. The fabrics will be benchmarked against conventional 100% cotton denim with a specific focus on handfeel and aesthetic characteristics.
Biosynthetic Feedstock Evaluation
The Biosynthetic Feedstock Evaluation is an initiative in collaboration with BESTSELLER, aimed at accelerating the industry’s shift towards alternatives to fossil-fuel polymers. The assessment will be conducted in partnership with industry experts, nova-Institute.
Renewable Carbon Project
The aim of the project was to test and validate the technical feasibility of the different PHA polymer and composite resins to make mono and multifilament fibres. Fashion for Good worked with the Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute (NIRI) to run the melt spinning trials to allow for a comparative evaluation. The initial scope of the project also included end of use testing including degradation testing. However the project partners decided to prioritise additional spinning trials over degradation testing.
Other Projects
Sorting for Circularity Rewear
Fashion for Good expanded its Sorting for Circularity framework to address the challenge of sorting for rewearable textiles to understand better their resale potential and the demand across the second-hand market. We launched an 18-month initiative in January 2024 in collaboration with Circle Economy, brand partners adidas, Inditex, Levi Strauss & Co. and Zalando to enhance the sorting of rewearable textiles using innovative AI technologies. The project seeks to improve garment recovery for resale, promoting circularity in the fashion industry.
Behind the Break
Behind the Break is a multi-phase research initiative developed by Fashion for Good in collaboration with The Microfibre Consortium. The project takes a research-led approach to advance the fashion industry’s understanding of fibre fragmentation, addressing uncertainties in existing testing protocols and key knowledge gaps. By supporting the development of a more credible and consistent foundation, the initiative aims to enable stakeholders to make informed decisions and take decisive action to mitigate fibre fragment pollution, while leveraging the best available science.
Behind the Break 2.0
Behind the Break 2.0 is a targeted research initiative focused on addressing fibre fragmentation in textiles, building directly on the work started in Phase 1.0 (2024–2025), which tested the strengths and limitations of different methods used to measure fibre loss, identifying how much results vary between labs, and exploring what drives fibre shedding across three fabric types: cotton knit, cotton woven, and polyester knit. Phase 2.0 seeks to increase confidence in data quality, consolidate and refine existing testing approaches and knowledge across selected fabric archetypes, and deepen supplier engagement to support wider data collection within the space.
