POLYMERS-5B: how Bio-Based Fabrics for Sustainable Fashion are created
Bio-based textiles and circular innovation: how POLYMERS-5B is helping to reshape the fashion industry
The Italian magazine Agenda Digitale, in an article published today, highlights how the POLYMERS-5B project is shaping the future of sustainable textiles.
The textile and fashion industry is undergoing a major transformation, driven by the urgent need for sustainability and increasing regulatory pressure. Traditionally one of the most polluting sectors, it is now shifting toward circular business models and embracing bio-based materials derived from renewable biomass.
Driven by growing sustainability demands and regulatory pressure, the traditionally polluting textile and fashion sector is now embracing circular models and renewable, bio-based materials.
At the forefront of this transformation is POLYMERS-5B, a European project funded with €5.6 million by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU). The project is developing innovative, biodegradable polymers using bio-catalysis and green chemistry, with raw materials sourced from tomato and olive oil processing waste, as well as wood pulp.
These next-generation materials are designed to replicate the performance of traditional fossil-based plastics but with a significantly lower environmental footprint. Using advanced AI and machine learning tools, POLYMERS-5B is optimising the extraction and synthesis processes, ensuring sustainability from lab to final applications.
Thanks to its collaboration with leading partners like EURECAT and the IST-ID/IBB, the project is adopting a Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) approach from the earliest development phases. Early applications include new yarns for swimwear and children’s clothing, developed in partnership with Spanish fashion brand BOBO CHOSES.
For Italian companies in the textile sector, POLYMERS-5B also opens doors to R&D collaboration and funding opportunities in circular economy solutions. The project is actively scouting for partners to scale up its innovations and drive industrial adoption of bio-based textiles.
Further reading:
- Link to the full article (IT): Polymers-5B: how bio-based fabrics for sustainable fashion are created
- Related article (IT: Sustainable fashion is rapidly evolving
- Related news (EN): https://polymers-5b.eu/bioeconomy-as-a-driver/
