Sustainable Textile Innovations: Recent Developments

This article discusses recent sustainable textile innovations like hemp, stinging nettle, coffee ground, pineapple fabric, banana, and lotus fibres. It explores how these materials contribute to sustainable textiles and why they are produced. The article also highlights the environmental impact of traditional textile fabrics and how sustainable materials can change the perception of the textile industry.

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Some noteworthy sustainable textile innovations in recent times
The textile industry is often thought to be an industry where there is very less scopes for
innovation, at least compared to other industry such as consumer electronics. The textile
industry is often regarded as one of the dirtiest industry in the world and there is a reason
behind this. The textile industry produces waste due to the production of cotton and synthetic
fibre production. It has a diverse impact on the environment leading to environment pollution
in large extent. One of the leading reason is that majority of the production follows old and
less efficient methods for the dye and fabric finish. According to report of the United States
Energy Administration, “the textile industry in the U.S. is the 5th largest contributor to CO2
emissions in the country”.
However there is change going in this trend. The reason being that consumer are becoming
more and more aware and textile industry is also aiming to contribute to the sustainable
environment. Hence clothing manufactures are investing in the production of fabric that are
not only environment friendly but also good for the consumer as well. In order to create the
practise of sustainable organization, organic fabric is becoming the latest trend in the textile
industry.
If we list the name of the recent organic materials it will seem more like ingredients of an
exotic shopping list. If it is not clearly specified it will not possible to identify that these
materials are name of some of the recent and innovative fabrics. The name of such materials
along with the specifications will be discussed in details in the following sections. The name
of these materials are Bananas, coffee, pineapple, lotus, stinging nettles and hemp.
These materials are all sustainable in nature which can be used to manufacture products that
contributes to sustainable textiles. How this materials contributes to the sustainable textiles

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will be discussed in details, but why these materials are even produced need very little
discussions as it is obvious that in order to find alternatives to the resource intensive fabrics
like cotton and to minimize the impact of petroleum-based fibres like acrylic, polyester,
nylon and spandex, such type of materials are required as it does not create dwindling of
resources which is the case for the former textile fabrics such as cotton and polyester based
materials or fabrics. Hence the promotion of sustainable materials for fabric production will
create less environment impact and will change the perception towards the textile industry
which is infamous for creating environment pollution through product manufacturing for the
consumers.
1. Hemp fibres
Hemp is one of the vital resource for producing fabric that is all natural and environment
friendly. Apart from being environment friendly, some notable features of the hemp fibre are
that the fibre is antibacterial, durable and resilient. However the most interesting factor is that
the fabric has the natural ability to work as air-conditioning system. Other notable features of
the fabric are that it requires less time to grow and also requires less water. Additionally no
herbicides, pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or GMO seeds are required for the growth of the
plant.
2. Stinging nettle fibres

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In order to produce the Stinging nettle fibres, the common Stinging nettle that is used is
the, Urtica dioica as it is quite easy to grow. It is mainly produce in the summer as in order to
produce the fibre stalks need to be dried for removing the string which is used for the fabric.
Similar to the hemp fibre, the Stinging nettle fibres require less water and pesticides, hence
environment friendly as well. The fibre is strong yet flexible which gives good spinning
length. However these fibres are preferred over hemp as production of hemp has certain legal
constraints which is not the case for the Stinging nettle fibres.
3. Coffee ground fibres
These kind of fibres as the name suggest, is made from the coffee grounds which is collected
from the collects the coffee grounds from the leading and international coffee vendors, like
Starbucks, otherwise thrown in the trash, thus providing a means for the recycling of the
coffee grounds. Fibres made from these coffee ground have anti-odour qualities, UV ray
protection and also provides a quick drying time. Taiwanese textile company Singtex’s
technology is leading manufacturer of these kind of fibres.

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4. Pineapple fabric Piñatex
Although the idea might seem crazy, the Pineapple fabric Piñatex is made of pineapple leaves
and the fabric is being thought as the alternative to the traditional leather. However the
research took several years to produce this fabric which is 100 percent vegan and sustainable.
This has the potential to address the fundamental values that includes the environmental,
ethical, social and economic sustainability.
5.
Banana fibres
Banana fibre, one of the strongest fibre, is produced from and it is natural too, thus
environment friendly as well. Although it is similar to bamboo fibre, but with better spin

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ability, fineness and tensile strength. It is possible to produce a different range of textiles with
different weights and thicknesses.
6. Lotus fibres
Although the production of fibre from lotus fibres as natural fibre is becoming trend in
western country, in countries like Thailand and Myanmar, the production of lotus fabric and
lotus textiles existed for centuries. The fabric is luxurious and feels like a blending of silk and
raw linen. The fabric is not only stain-resistant, it is light weight, soft, silky and extremely
breathable. However the manufacturing process is lengthy and complex as well which is the
main drawback of this fabric production.

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Rossi, T., Silva, P.M.S., De Moura, L.F., Araújo, M.C., Brito, J.O. and Freeman, H.S., 2017.
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