Wheat Straw Emerges as a Next-Generation Fibre Source for the Fashion Industry
Canopy, an environmental non-profit organisation, revealed in its report “From Wheat Straw to Wardrobes: Fashioning a New Fiber Future,” published on 26 May 2026, that wheat straw has the potential to produce high-quality and sustainable viscose and lyocell fibre for the fashion industry. The report is based on the results of a pilot project called Project Latvus, which tested whether pulp made from Indian wheat straw could replace conventional wood-based pulp.
The pilot project brought together the non-profit organisations Canopy and Fashion for Good, brands such as C&A, H&M Group, and Reformation, supply chain innovators, manufacturers, traceability technology provider Textile Genesis, and wheat straw supplier A2P Energy. During the process, wheat straw was baled in the Punjab and Haryana regions of India, then pulped at the Thuringian Institute of Textile and Plastics Research in Germany and sent to Portuguese manufacturer Inovafil for yarn production.
The resulting yarns were transformed into knit, woven, and sweater materials by various partner companies. Testing showed that lyocell fabric made from wheat straw is a viable alternative to wood-pulp versions, particularly in knit and sweater applications. In a direct aesthetic and technical comparison conducted by Reformation, the Project Latvus fabric was found to be comparable in purity to wood-pulp fabric and to present no major quality concerns.
According to Canopy’s analysis, although regenerated cellulosic fibres are often positioned as environmentally friendly alternatives to polyester and cotton, more than 300 million trees are cut down each year to produce these fibres, including some from the world’s most climate-critical and biodiversity-rich forests. Treating wheat straw, an agricultural waste, as an alternative feedstock carries the potential to diversify the fashion industry’s fibre sources, reduce reliance on forest fibres, and create new income opportunities for rural communities.
