Unlocking adoption of bio-based materials: Industry perspectives on barriers, opportunities and pathways forward

The discussion focused on the practical realities of implementation, examining the commercial, technical and organisational factors shaping adoption decisions today.

Interest in bio-based materials is growing, and many organisations are moving beyond awareness into a phase of testing, validation and implementation. While participants acknowledged a number of challenges that continue to slow adoption, there was broad agreement that bio-based materials will play an increasingly important role in reducing reliance on fossil-based feedstocks and supporting long-term sustainability goals.

The discussion also highlighted that many of the remaining barriers are no longer purely technical. Instead, brands and suppliers are increasingly focused on questions of commercial viability, internal alignment, certification, traceability and scaling.

Where the industry stands today

Participants represented a broad spectrum of adoption maturity.

A recurring theme was that sustainability teams are increasingly interested in bio-based solutions, but adoption efforts are often prioritised around the highest-volume materials categories first. As a result, materials such as polyester continue to receive significant attention, while other synthetic materials – including spandex – are only beginning to receive greater focus despite their widespread use across apparel and footwear.

Nevertheless, participants viewed bio-based alternatives as a promising pathway for reducing reliance on fossil-based feedstocks, with growing interest across both brands and suppliers.

Commercial realities continue to shape adoption decisions

Cost remains one of the most significant barriers to wider adoption.

Participants noted that even relatively small price increases can create substantial resistance internally, particularly from merchandising and commercial teams tasked with maintaining margins. Sustainability benefits alone are often insufficient to justify higher costs without a clear business case, measurable impact or customer demand.

Several participants highlighted that broader adoption is likely to occur through gradual integration at lower percentages and larger volumes, allowing brands and suppliers to benefit from economies of scale while minimising commercial risk.

Organisational challenges often outweigh technical challenges

Organisational barriers frequently present a greater challenge than technical limitations.

Participants described limited internal resources, competing business priorities and the complexity of securing alignment across sustainability, sourcing, product development and commercial teams.

Introducing a new material often requires buy-in from multiple stakeholders, and adoption can stall when teams lack the time, resources or internal incentives to trial new solutions. Successful implementation therefore depends not only on material performance, but also on how easily new materials can be integrated into existing product development processes.

Building confidence remains critical

Performance remains an important consideration when evaluating new materials.

While participants acknowledged that perceptions around durability and functionality can still create hesitation, there was broad agreement that bio-based alternatives are increasingly demonstrating performance parity with conventional materials. The greater challenge is often building internal confidence through testing, validation and education.

As a result, robust performance data, real-world case studies and clear technical communication were identified as important enablers of wider adoption.

Testing and experimentation remain difficult

Many participants expressed a willingness to experiment with bio-based materials but cited practical barriers that make meaningful trials difficult.

Challenges included high minimum order quantities (MOQs), limited access to small-scale testing volumes, difficulties justifying large commitments before commercial viability has been demonstrated, and a lack of mechanisms to aggregate demand across multiple brands.

Participants expressed strong interest in collaborative models that could enable brands to share testing opportunities and development volumes, reducing risk while creating the scale needed to support innovation.

Certification and claims require greater alignment

The conversation highlighted ongoing uncertainty around certification, verification and environmental claims.

Participants noted that the industry currently lacks a universally accepted framework for validating bio-based materials, creating challenges for sustainability teams seeking to communicate benefits internally and externally.

Brands are seeking greater clarity around chain of custody systems, traceability, verification methodologies and emerging industry standards. As regulatory scrutiny of sustainability claims continues to increase, participants agreed that greater alignment across the industry will be essential.

Accounting methodologies influence decision-making

Participants also highlighted the role that greenhouse gas accounting methodologies play in shaping material decisions.

A key discussion point centred on the treatment of biogenic carbon and the limitations of current accounting frameworks. Several participants noted that existing methodologies do not always fully reflect the carbon benefits associated with renewable feedstocks, making comparisons between different material pathways more challenging.

The group agreed that greater consistency and transparency in accounting approaches could help strengthen business cases and support more informed decision-making.

What Could Accelerate Adoption?

While the discussion identified a number of challenges, participants also highlighted several opportunities to accelerate progress:

• Greater technical education to improve understanding of bio-based materials, performance characteristics, certification pathways and environmental impacts.
• Lower-risk trial pathways that enable brands to experiment with smaller volumes and shared testing programmes.
• Stronger business cases that connect sustainability benefits with commercial priorities, regulatory preparedness and supply chain resilience.
• Improved industry alignment around certification, traceability and environmental claims.
• Incremental scaling approaches that allow brands to introduce bio-based content gradually while building volume and reducing cost over time.

The discussion demonstrated that industry interest in bio-based materials is real and growing.

Importantly, the conversation suggested that the challenge facing the industry is no longer whether bio-based materials have a role to play. Instead, the focus is increasingly shifting towards how brands, suppliers and industry stakeholders can work together to make adoption easier, lower risk and commercially viable at scale.

While technical innovation remains important, progress will depend equally on collaboration, education, validation and the creation of practical pathways that help organisations move from interest to implementation.

About Hyosung’s bio-based materials initiative

As one of the world’s largest producers of spandex, Hyosung is investing in the development of bio-based alternatives designed to reduce reliance on fossil-based feedstocks while maintaining the performance characteristics required by apparel and footwear brands.

Hyosung’s bio-based spandex utilises renewable feedstocks and is designed as a drop-in solution for existing manufacturing processes, helping brands explore lower-impact material options without compromising functionality. Alongside material innovation, the company is actively working to strengthen traceability, certification and verification systems to support greater transparency and confidence across the value chain.

At the core of this initiative is Hyosung’s fully integrated bio-based value chain in Vietnam, where raw sugar derived from sugarcane is fermented into Bio-BDO, converted into Bio-PTMG, and ultimately transformed into Hyosung BIO Spandex for apparel applications.

Through initiatives such as this workshop, Hyosung aims to foster industry dialogue, share learnings and better understand the practical challenges brands face as they work to scale the adoption of bio-based materials.

See here for a full video from BBC’s Fashion Redressed II Series on Hyosung’s work.

Author details

Tanya Richard

COO and Head of Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability Communications

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