Can Recycled Polyester Compete with Bio-Based Fibers?
Shafiun Nahar Elma
Industrial & Production Engineer
National Institute of Textile Engineering & Research (NITER), Bangladesh.
Email: shafiun.elma05@gmail.com
The textile sector is experiencing a frenzy of change, with brands, companies, and policymakers demanding greener materials. As the consumer demand to be satisfied with sustainable fashion grows, two competitors have become the center of the stage: recycled polyester and bio-based fibers. As much as recycled polyester has become a recognized form of a circular material instead of virgin polyester, bio-based fiber innovation is becoming a topic of ever-growing interest because of its potential to transform the entire basis of the textile material. The question is, would recycled polyester be able to compete with bio-based fibers to pursue a sustainable future?
Learning about Recycled Polyester
One of the most common sustainable textile solutions has been recycled polyester, which is usually obtained by recycling post-consumer PET bottles. It decreases the reliance on fossil fuels, removes plastic waste from landfills, and consumes less energy than the production of virgin polyester. Textile Exchange states that in 2024, almost 15% of the total polyester fiber was produced using recycled polyester.
Nevertheless, even recycled polyester has a chemical structure of plastic. It is not biodegradable, and the shedding of microplastics during washing is an issue of great concern. However, the downcycling process is the main type of recycling of polyester because polyester cannot be downcycled endlessly without deteriorating.
Defining Bio-Based Fibers
Bio-based fiber can be defined as a type of textile fiber that is made of renewable natural materials like agricultural waste, cellulose, algae, or even the fermentation of bacteria. These are polylactic acid (PLA) corn fibers, bio-nylon castor bean fibers, and regenerated cellulose fibers such as Tencel. In comparison to the recycled polyester, bio-based fiber innovation aims to substitute the use of fossil-based raw materials with renewable feedstocks, which will decrease carbon dependency.
More importantly, a number of bio-based fibers have been developed to be biodegradable, which is a closed loop in the end-of-life management of the textile. Consequently, the bio-based fiber technology is frequently placed in the more holistic and future-oriented sphere as compared to recycled polyester.
Environment Footprint Comparison
Comparing recycled polyester and bio-based fibers, the point of discussion will be the environmental impact.
Carbon Emissions: Recycled polyester reduces emissions considerably as compared to virgin polyester, but it also uses a petrochemical base. Bio-based fiber, based on the feedstock, can reach 60% lower carbon emissions, as claimed by the European Bioplastics Association.
Biodegradability: Recycled polyester is not biodegradable, and most bio-based fibers are designed to disintegrate naturally, which will reduce the waste in the long term. Resource Use-Recycled polyester is based on the continuous availability of the PET waste and bio-based fiber production on renewable biomass, which might eliminate the dependence on non-renewable fossil resources. This comparison shows that recycled polyester is a valuable transitional material, but bio-based fibers have a greater role to play in sustainability in the long run.
Industry Adoption Trends
Brands are also now experimenting with recycled polyester as well as bio-based fibers. Even the sportswear giants, such as Adidas and Nike, have already pledged to use 100 %. Recycling of polyester by 2030. Conversely, the first movers in terms of bio-based fiber substitutes are luxury and high-end fashion brands that collaborate with innovators such as Spinnova, Kintra Fibers, and Pangaia.
The bio-based fiber market in the global market is anticipated to grow more rapidly based on compound annual growth rate (CAGR) as compared to recycled polyester in the same year 2025, due to consumer preference and legal backing. MarketsandMarkets predicts a growth of the bio-based fiber industry to more than USD 9 billion by 2032, and thus, it is an important area of growth in the field of sustainable fabrics.
Problems with Recycled Polyester
Microplastic Pollution: Washing clothes releases microplastics into waterways, which cannot be stopped by recycling.
Quality Degradation: Fiber quality and strength are decreased with every recycling process.
Lack of Recycling Infrastructure: Recycling of garments into garments cannot be done on a large scale at present.
These restrictions indicate that recycled polyester, although helpful, is not a long-term circularity textile.
Bio-Based Fibers Opportunities
Compostable fibers such as PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates) and PLA can be used, which fits the concept of the circular economy. The agricultural by-products like banana stems or pineapple leaves that are utilized to make useful textiles lower waste, though they produce useful textiles. Other bio-based fibers like bio-nylon are even tougher and as performance-wise as synthetic fibers, and can be used in fashion and industrial practice. This places bio-based fiber as an alternative, but as a disruptive type of material.
Consumer and Policy Influence
Natural and biodegradable solutions are greatly preferred by consumers. When price and design are both the same, surveys by McKinsey indicate that more than three-fourths of the world’s fashion customers will seek bio-based fiber textiles as opposed to synthetics. Also, the legislation in the EU and the US is becoming more and more restrictive of the production of fossil-based fabrics. In the case of California, the 2025 textiles PFAS ban is hastening the shift to bio-based fibre innovation.
All these forces are indicative of the fact that bio-based fibers will have more impetus than recycled polyester in the next decade.
Future Market Forecast
Although recycled polyester should be a significant solution to decreasing plastic waste in the short run, it cannot address the sustainability issues of the textile industry completely. Innovation in bio-based fibres, in turn, deals with both resource dependency and biodegradation at the end of life. This may be a mixed scenario in the future as recycled polyester will continue to be used where the material is needed to last a long time, and the use of bio-based fiber as a mainstream fashion and lifestyle item will seem to become a widespread trend.
You may also like: Suitability of Recycled Polyester in Sportswear and Apparel Application
Finally, the current polyester recycled can potentially be outcompeted by bio-based fiber, yet the sustainability of textiles in the long run will belong to bio-based fiber because of its renewable source, biodegradation, and compliance with the concept of a circular economy.
Conclusion
Recycled polyester is a solution with the benefits of waste reduction and saving fossil fuel, but its plastic nature limits it so that it cannot be the ultimate solution to textile sustainability. Bio-based fiber, however, is the more promising solution in the long-term perspective. With the convergence of fashion companies, policymakers, and consumers toward more eco-friendly materials, bio-based fibers will transform the textile industry as a renewable, biodegradable, and scalable solution for the future. The transformation has already started, and the future of sustainable textiles could easily be attributed to the innovation of bio-based fibers.
References
[1] “Textile Exchange,” [Online]. Available: https://textileexchange.org/knowledge-center/reports/materials-market-report-2024
[2] “Metastat,” [Online]. Available: https://www.metastatinsight.com/report/bio-based-textiles-market
[3] “Grandview Research,” [Online]. Available: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-bio-based-textiles-market-report
[4] “SGS” [Online]. Available: https://www.sgs.com/en-us/news/2025/03/cc-2025-q1-transitioning-to-biobased-materials-in-the-textile-industry
Founder & Editor of Textile Learner. He is a Textile Consultant, Blogger & Entrepreneur. Mr. Kiron is working as a textile consultant in several local and international companies. He is also a contributor of Wikipedia.
