Fashion for Good has launched Stretching Circularity, a collaborative initiative focused on accelerating the adoption of lower-impact elastane alternatives that are compatible with circular textile systems. The project aims to address one of the most persistent technical barriers to fibre-to-fibre recycling by validating bio-based and recycled elastane solutions at pilot scale.

Elastane is present in approximately 80% of all clothing. Typically added in concentrations ranging from 1 to 5% by weight in cotton or wool garments, and up to 20% in polyester or polyamide garments, the fossil-based fibre provides stretch and comfort. However, it also presents two major sustainability challenges.

First, elastane contributes to carbon emissions and reliance on non-renewable resources. Second, and more critically for recycling systems, even minimal amounts of elastane can act as a contaminant in textile recycling feedstocks. This compromises fibre-to-fibre recycling processes for high-volume materials such as polyester and cotton, limiting circular options and often resulting in downcycling or landfill.

Stretching Circularity has been designed to tackle this issue through two parallel workstreams. The first focuses on testing next-generation elastane materials made from alternative inputs, including bio-based sources and other feedstocks. As part of this phase, the consortium will develop demonstrator garments, including a technical t-shirt containing 10% elastane and a non-technical t-shirt with 2% elastane.

The second workstream concentrates on regenerated elastane produced through emerging recycling technologies. Both streams follow a pilot-scale validation model intended to generate comparable data on material performance, environmental impact, economic feasibility and scalability.

The project brings together stakeholders from across the textile value chain. Consortium members include Fashion for Good partners Levi Strauss & Co (Beyond Yoga), On, Paradise Textiles, Positive Materials and Reformation, with Ralph Lauren Corporation serving as an advisor. Ecosystem experts Materiom and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation are also supporting the initiative.

The group will share knowledge across the consortium to identify technical gaps and develop comparative datasets designed to reduce adoption risk for the wider industry. Stretching Circularity operates within a structured due diligence and validation framework to assess whether alternative materials meet the performance standards associated with conventional elastane.

“Lower-impact elastane solutions exist, but they lack the pilot-scale validation brands need to scale them confidently,” said Katrin Ley, Managing Director at Fashion for Good. “This initiative seeks to provide that missing data, turning a well-known recycling “contaminant” into a functional component of a circular supply chain.”

Carrie Freiman Parry, Senior Director of Sustainability at Reformation, described elastane as a widely overlooked barrier to circularity. “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.”

By focusing on pilot-scale trials and demonstrator products, the project aims to move beyond laboratory validation and provide brands with data relevant to commercial adoption. The approach reflects increasing industry focus on material compatibility with recycling systems, as regulatory and market pressures push for greater circularity in textiles.

Fashion for Good, based in Amsterdam, works across the fashion ecosystem to support the scaling of disruptive innovations. Through partnerships with brands, suppliers, innovators and funders, the organisation seeks to accelerate the transition towards a circular and regenerative industry.

The launch of Stretching Circularity signals a targeted effort to address a material challenge that affects the majority of garments currently on the market. If validated at scale, alternative elastane solutions could remove a key technical constraint on textile-to-textile recycling and expand the range of garments compatible with circular systems.

Further information about the Stretching Circularity project is available via Fashion for Good.