Bio-based and recycled elastane alternatives are entering pilot-scale validation as the fashion industry seeks to remove what has been described as one of the most significant technical barriers to fibre-to-fibre recycling. Stretching Circularity, a new consortium-led initiative, will test next-generation and regenerated elastane through demonstrator garments to assess performance, impact and scalability within circular textile systems across high-volume apparel categories.
- Elastane is present in approximately 80% of clothing and is typically blended in small concentrations that can compromise recycling feedstocks.
- Even minimal elastane content can block fibre-to-fibre recycling of high-volume fibres such as cotton and polyester, leaving limited options beyond downcycling or landfill.
- The project will create a technical t-shirt with 10% elastane and a non-technical t-shirt with 2% elastane for pilot validation.
- Stretching Circularity, launched by Fashion for Good on Thursday, focuses on validating bio-based and regenerated elastane alternatives compatible with circular textile systems.
THE PROJECT: Stretching Circularity was launched as a structured industry effort to validate lower-impact elastane alternatives within circular textile systems. Initiated by Fashion for Good, the project seeks to generate pilot-scale evidence on whether bio-based and recycled elastane can meet conventional performance standards while addressing recycling contamination challenges that have constrained fibre-to-fibre processing.
- The initiative focuses on validating alternatives compatible with circular systems rather than introducing entirely new garment categories.
- Pilot-scale testing is designed to produce comparable data on performance, environmental impact, economic feasibility and scalability.
- The validation framework operates under a structured due diligence process to assess alignment with existing elastane benchmarks.
- The consortium includes Levi Strauss & Co, On, Paradise Textiles, Positive Materials and Reformation, with Ralph Lauren Corporation serving as an advisor.
- Ecosystem experts including Materiom and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation will support knowledge sharing, while the broader Fashion for Good platform is backed by Laudes Foundation and multiple corporate partners.
THE SCALE OF ELASTANE: Elastane is present in approximately 80% of all clothing and is typically blended in small concentrations to provide stretch and comfort. While often added at just one to 5% in cotton or wool garments and up to 20% in polyester or polyamide, even minimal levels can disrupt recycling processes designed for single-fibre feedstocks.
- Elastane is a fossil-based material that contributes to carbon emissions and non-renewable resource consumption across the apparel industry.
- In recycling streams, elastane can act as a contaminant, compromising fibre-to-fibre processing of high-volume fibres such as polyester and cotton.
- This contamination challenge limits circularity options, often leaving downcycling or landfill as the only viable pathways for mixed-material garments.
THE VALIDATION MODEL: The project operates through two defined workstreams designed to validate alternative elastane pathways under controlled, pilot-scale conditions. One stream focuses on next-generation materials derived from bio-based and alternative feedstocks, while the other evaluates regenerated elastane produced through emerging recycling innovations, with both tracks following a comparable validation framework intended to generate comparable data on performance, impact, economic feasibility and scalability.
- The bio-based workstream includes the creation of demonstrator garments to test material performance under real-use conditions.
- A technical t-shirt containing 10% elastane and a non-technical t-shirt containing 2% elastane will be used as pilot validation models.
- The regenerated elastane pathway examines materials created through recycling innovations to assess compatibility with circular textile systems.
- Both workstreams aim to generate comparable data across performance, impact, economic feasibility and scalability metrics.
UNLOCKING RECYCLING: Validating lower-impact elastane at pilot scale is intended to address a structural bottleneck in fibre-to-fibre recycling systems by assessing whether alternatives can mitigate the contaminant effect that currently limits fibre-to-fibre recycling. By assessing whether alternative stretch materials can meet conventional performance standards while remaining compatible with recycling feedstocks, the project seeks to remove a technical constraint that has limited circularity across high-volume apparel categories.
- Successful validation could enable broader fibre-to-fibre recycling of cotton and polyester garments that currently contain small elastane blends.
- Comparable performance and impact data are intended to reduce adoption risk for brands evaluating alternative stretch materials.
- The framework aims to determine whether alternatives are not only conceptually viable but operationally scalable within existing supply chains.
INDUSTRY BACKING: Stretching Circularity is being positioned as a consortium-led effort spanning brands, suppliers and ecosystem experts across the value chain, aimed at generating comparative data to de-risk adoption of circular elastane solutions for the wider industry. The initiative operates under a structured due diligence and validation framework to assess whether alternative elastane solutions meet the performance standards of conventional materials while generating shared data intended to support industry-wide decision-making.
WHAT THEY SAID
Lower-impact elastane solutions exist, but they lack the pilot-scale validation brands need to scale them confidently. This initiative seeks to provide that missing data, turning a well-known recycling contaminant into a functional component of a circular supply chain.
— Katrin Ley
Managing Director
Fashion for Good
Elastane is one of the most overlooked blockers to true circularity in fashion: it’s everywhere and yet there is a significant challenge to recovering it at scale. Stretching Circularity is about tackling that problem at the root and proving that lower-impact stretch materials and new recycling pathways can meet real performance and design standards.
— Carrie Freiman Parry
Senior Director of Sustainability
Reformation
